I Can't Tell You
by Zakonius
Summary: The new X-men (Chang, Zach, and Cameron) are adjusting to life at the Institute quite nicely. Until they discover one has a very unexpected secret, and a new...thing...shows up with some plans of his own. Please RR; Important Author's note!
1. Dragonoid

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonoid, also known as Chang Letian, or Kitty Pryde, Mingzhi, Tianan, or the X-men, period, but I do own everyone else. So NYAH!

When do you get to that point that enough is enough? I dunno. I've never been there. But apparently, my parents thought that enough was enough when they found the scales on my arms.

Biological parents, that is. I don't actually consider them my parents anymore. How could you? Me, I'm ok with it. I am now, at least.

By the way, I'm Chang Letian. But everyone calls me Chang. Everyone except Tianan.

"CHANG LETIAN! You will be late for school!"

"I know!" I yelled back, stuffing a cookie into my mouth and slinging my backpack over my shoulder. I desperately looked for my shoes, crawling on my knees to look under my bed, before I realized that a certain wide-eyed boy was staring at me from my doorway. "Mingzhi…" I warned. Grinning mischievously, he held up one of my shoes. It dwarfed him. I've always been big, at 210 lbs, nearly six feet tall. To my little brother, holding my shoe was like holding a basketball.

"Come and get it!" He sang.

"This is not the time! I'm late already!" I lunged for him, but he was quick, and was already running out the door by the time I picked myself up. I grabbed my other shoe, the one he had dropped while taunting me, jammed it on, and took off after him. "Mingzhi, I'm gonna kill you!"

"Ok, what I'm saying is this-If you take a square root, right? And you divide it by pi, right? Then you multiply that by the cosines of three acute angles-" My friend Fitzgu was interrupted by Pete, the British exchange student.

"You do realize you are contributing to every Chinese stereotype imaginable, _right_?" Pete attempted to eat a noodle with chopsticks. With hilarious results.

"You know you can use a fork, _right_?" Fitzgu retorted just as quickly, shoveling ramen into his mouth. I laughed, eating some of mine with ease.

School had just let out for lunch, and the kids were enjoying the warm air and the sun. I had a book on Greek mythology propped open in front of me.

"If you get any more food on her books, Mrs. Hsu said she wouldn't let you check any more out," Pete supplied. I glared at him.

"Thanks, Boss," I threw back at him. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"Hey, don't get mad at me, you've ruined two books on Roman gods and one on Japanese fire demons already."

"Those were dumb books anyway." The bell sounded, and we gathered up our empty lunch sacks and deposited them in a receptacle. I hate that word. Trash can, that's more like it.

On the way to my next class, I accidentally brushed against some girl I didn't recognize. I mumbled a hurried apology, and went into the room as fast as I could but not fast enough.

"Woah, way cool!" I heard her say, so I stopped, and turned around.

"What's cool?" She was smiling vibrantly. I noticed that she wasn't Chinese. She was Caucasian.

"Your arms." She looked down. Not far down, because at this point, I was about five inches taller then her, but she looked at my fore arms. I couldn't help it. I followed her gaze, staring at the scales on them. Not much, just a spattering of them in the back, but they were there all right. Scales.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to touch you with them." I turned to go, annoyed at her for having bothered me.

"No, wait! I like, think it's neat. Your scales, I mean." I kept walking.

"Glad you think so. I have class now." People like her annoyed me. She was a…what's the word? Valley girl. But it wasn't just her. Everyone. They were always reacting to my scales like they were horrible, then trying to backpedal into making me think they liked them. I mean, what's the big deal? They were just scales! I ran a finger over a set of them, then sat down in my desk.

I was walking home that night with my little brother. He was bouncing all around with that wiggly-giggly little kid energy.

"And then we learned about horses, and we learned about colors, and we learned about…" He hadn't stopped for a half an hour. I was so preoccupied with what he was telling me, that I didn't even remember to look both ways as we crossed the street. "And we saw a whale in the book, and we sang a song about flowers, and we…" I couldn't believe that he remembered so much of his day. I didn't even remember what I had had for lunch. I looked up to check the curb we were walking to, when I heard a screeching sound and a loud, continuous honk. I snapped around, and my mind went blank. Barreling down on us like a bat out of hell was a Land Rover. The man behind the wheel was smiling. Not a malicious smile, more like a drunken smile. Mingzhi screamed. I couldn't help it. So did I. I opened my mouth to yell, instead of moving like a sensible person, but what came out wasn't a scream.

A blast of heat filled my throat. A large jet of flame billowed out in front of me, igniting the SUV on fire. It kept coming like a raging bull, hood blazing red hot, and I had time to think _Did I DO THAT?_ When it exploded two feet from us. The concussion threw me backwards, and Mingzhi, too. I landed on my back, skidded, the asphalt tearing into my vulnerable flesh. Mingzhi landed on top of me, safe from the explosion. I heard WHAM of metal hitting the street as the Land Rover smashed back to earth. The door opened and with smoke stained eyes I saw a drunken guy weave his way out, then fall to the ground in a shivering heap. My little brother was lying on my chest, crying. I coughed, trying to catch my breath, and sat up, painfully. I gently pulled him off my chest so I could sit up easier, and felt warmth running down my back. I was bleeding.

"We have to get home…" I whispered, and slowly stood up.

It had been two weeks since the car wreck, and I was convinced that the explosion was caused by some sort of faulty wiring in the Rover itself, not me breathing fire or some other stupid explanation like that. Conveniently, no one had seen anything, so Mingzhi and I managed to limp away relatively unmolested.

Tianan had bandaged my back, but aside from a couple of nasty scrapes, I was fine. We had both been hurled away before we could get burned, so no one was any the wiser. I didn't tell anyone about the accident, because people would have asked me questions. I don't like questions.

Maybe that's why when the girl came back, asking me about my parents, I shoved her out the front door and told her to leave me alone. 

"Jeez, some people can't take a-" I turned around and ran into her again. "Hint," I finished, staring open mouthed.

"Kitty Pryde. I think I like, forgot to tell you that last time." She was still smiling. I frowned, determined not to let her get to me.

"I don't know how you got back in, but leave!" I reached for her wrist and felt a slight shock as my hand passed right through it! I couldn't help it. I stared.

"See? We're not so different, right? Now, you never told me your name…" I recovered. This girl was way too overbearing.

"And I'm not gonna. I'm calling the police."

"And I'll show them the marks on your back." I stopped, just shy of grabbing the phone. Mingzhi walked in. 

"Hey, Chang, can you help me with some letters?"

"In a minute. Go back to your room." I took a deep breath and turned around to Kitty. I contemplated this girl, the one who had shown up at my door, apparently walking _through_ my door, and knowing about the accident. A defeated sigh escaped my lips. "We can talk upstairs."

"Ok, let me get this straight," I began, tossing my Magic 8-Ball in the air and catching it. "You're a mutant. You go to a school for mutants. You want me to come to your school for mutants. Is that pretty much it?" Kitty looked at my room, and winced.

"Yeah, that's the Cliffnotes version." I nodded, and walked towards her, bring my face down and close to hers, trying to intimidate her.

"And what makes you think I'm a mutant?" She gulped. Good. She was nervous. Very good.

"I saw what you did to the car." She stopped being nervous and stared right back at me. "By the way, you have something in your eye."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, look!" And she poked me, laughing hysterically. Ok, not funny. I was angry.

"I didn't do anything to that car! Get out of my house!" As I yelled the last word, a small wisp of smoke escaped my mouth and floated to the ceiling. I turned crimson, rage turning into embarrassment. "Look, I got stuff to do. Sit here all day, see if I care!" I stormed down the stairs, grabbed Tianan's grocery list, yelled for my little bro to come on, and slammed the door shut.

Who did she think she was?! You don't just walk into someone's house and start demanding they come live with you! Americans, just rude!

"Who was that girl?"

"No one!" I snapped.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Mingzhi asked with all the natural cuteness of an eight-year old.

"No. And how do you know about girlfriends? You're too young," I said emphatically. He pouted, sticking his lip out.

"That's what Tianan says. But I _am_ old enough to understand some things!" We were almost to the store. Another couple of blocks and we'd be there.

"Like what?" I asked absently.

"Like I know you were lying to that girl when you told her you didn't blow up the car." I stiffened.

"What do you mean?"

"Duh. You like burped or something, and then flames came out of your mouth. It was cool, but kinda scary. It reminded me of a dragon or something." I absently ran a hand across the scales on my right arm.

"Uh-huh." Did I really do that? Breathe fire? Did that make me a mutant? Lots of questions. And only one person had the answers. Kitty Pryde.

"That's 206.926 CNY," the cashier said, and I gladly paid him and grabbed my bags. Was Kitty still at my house? I had to make sure she was. But did I really want to see her? Self-doubt ate at me like some sort of intestinal parasite. I left the store and went to the corner where I had let Mingzhi wait for me.

"Mingzhi?" I called, when I realized he wasn't there. It was no big deal, he was always running off somewhere. I wasn't worried. Until I heard a scream. A high-pitched yelp of pain, from an eight-year old boy. I dropped the bags and ran as fast as I could in the direction of the cry, hoping that I was wrong and it wasn't my little brother that was in trouble. I slid through a small divider that kept the sidewalk from the alleys, feet slapping the pavement, maneuvering around dumpsters and garbage cans, leaping over open manholes, launched myself over a chain link fence, scrabbling wildly, and ducked blindly into an alley, when SMASH! The air around me exploded into stars.

"What's going on?" I heard a voice say. I felt hands grab me around the shoulders and hoist me up. My vision began to clear and I could see a group of men, all dressed in black, one holding a knife to a small, quivering boy. That was the guy that had spoken.

"Dunno. He just came running in here," One of the men who had picked me up replied.

"Come to join our little party, maybe?" The first guy spoke. "What do you want?" Was he talking to me?" I tried to focus, but my eyes wouldn't seem to work right. Someone had clocked me pretty hard when I came in.

"I just came to get my brother," I stuttered, trying to sound brave. This brought roars of laughter. The guy with the knife, who seemed to be the leader, stepped towards me and ran the blade across my chest.

"Hey, check out these weird scales on his arms, Slash," The guy on my right commented.

"Yuck, I won't get some sort of disease if I touch them will I?" The other guy on my left said. I noticed he was bald and had a scar running down the center of his head. The leader held up a hand for silence.

"Your _brother_ made fun of a Triad. Do you know what the penalty for that is?" I knew very well what the penalty was. Everyone in this neighborhood knew that if you messed with the Triads, you died. Period.

"Come on, he's just a little kid!" I pleaded. Hopefully I could get us both out of this alive. The leader looked at me and seemed to think what I had said over.

"You're right," He decided at last. I barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief before the knife was against _my_ neck. "You'll have to pay for it instead!"

"Chang, fry him!" Mingzhi yelled. "Use your power, blow him up!" There was a half-second delay as everyone looked at my little brother, probably thinking, _ What the heck is the kid talking about? _I wrenched my right arm free of Slash while he was distracted, too surprised to react. The leader thought I was lashing out to punch him, and raised his arm in self defense. I wasn't. I gripped his shoulder to keep him steady, opened my mouth, and willed the flames to come out.

Nothing.

I kept thinking to myself, come on, breathe fire, something! But nothing happened. No sudden blast of heat, no constriction in my throat, come on, something!

"That's it! You're dead, punk!" The knife flashed towards my throat. No time to react. I couldn't jerk away, Slash, who had been holding my right arm was now holding my head in place.

Suddenly, miraculously, my arm flexed. At this point, I still had it on the leader's shoulder. But it wasn't my muscles that flexed, no, it was more like…my _nerves_ flexed. A short of shiver magnified times a thousand. And…

CRACK! WHAM! The air between us exploded in an arc of flashing electricity, a strobe light of cosmic proportions. The knife was forgotten, it had been propelled away from me with such force that it looked like some sort of bullet. CRACK! My left arm flexed, and Scar was blown backwards, writhing in pain on the ground. I jerked forward, away from Slash and heard a gun being cocked.

I whirled to put my self between my brother and the Triad, opened my mouth to tell Mingzhi to run, to get away, to do something, and felt my throat grow hot. Great, _now_ I was getting the flames. I twisted my head in his direction, and a stream of fire engulfed Slash before he could shoot. In the heat of the explosion, I heard the gun go off, ricocheting away from me and into the alley that I had just come through.

"Mingzhi, come on!" I scooped up my little brother in my arms, worried only for his safety, and ran away from the gang. I could hear screaming from behind me, pained terror manifested into a verbal yell. Slash was down, I was sure of that, and Scar had taken a hard hit, but the leader would be coming after me. When I had blasted him, he had been thrown in the wall, hard, but not unconscious.

_I blasted him!? Maybe I really _am_ a mutant!_

I sprinted back home, not stopping once, Mingzhi sobbing on my shoulder the whole time.

I sat Mingzhi down on the couch, and reached for the phone to call the police. That's when I realized Kitty was still there, leaning against the banister of the stairs. Her eyes flicked to my neck.

"What happened!" I reached up with my hand felt above my shirt. I was bleeding. The knife must've nicked me when I- Never mind.

"We ran into some trouble. I have to call the police now," I responded coolly.

"Did you do your thing? With the fire?" Kitty stood up and walked over to me.

"Sort've." I grabbed a phone book and flipped through the pages for the police office. But then I thought about it. How could I call the police, tell them that I had taken down three Triads, with no weapons? And when they interrogated them, the punks would tell the cops I had done my fire breathing trick and shot lightning bolts out of my hands. I shook my head. "Man, that sounds unbelievable even to me," I muttered under my breath.

"What?" Kitty was still standing behind me, looking worried.

"Nothing. Can you check Mingzhi? Make sure he's okay?" Okay, so if I called the cops, soon, everyone would find out I was a mutant. And I couldn't have that. Discrimination against mutants was big. And with my physical abilities, I was a prime candidate for mutant persecution. I stared at my arms. The scales were there, flesh colored points on my forearms. Less than an hour ago, I had shot _ lightning_ out of those hands. How? And how come I couldn't get the fire breathing trick to work when I needed it?

"Here." I turned around to look at Kitty. She was holding a Band-aid out to me. "You need to put this on." I nodded and took it from her, applying it to my cut. Luckily it was small. After I washed it, no one would be able to tell. I glanced in the mirror at myself.

I still looked normal. Well, as normal as I ever had. And if Kitty was telling the truth, that she went to a school where they helped people like me, helped them to realize their potential, then maybe…maybe I should go.

"Ok. I'll go," I stated clearly. Her eyes lit up. "But you have to promise me that Mingzhi and Tianan will be all right. And that I'll be able to come back."

"No prob! Come on, get your stuff!"

I tossed my shirts and pants into a duffel bag, rifling through all my stuff, grabbing what was important to me. I didn't even notice that Mingzhi was standing in the doorway until I turned to leave, sighing heavily. He looked like he wasn't afraid, but I could tell. My little brother's eyes gave away his uncertainty, and the way he clutched himself in a protective hug told me that he was scared.

"Where are you going?" He asked, lip quivering.

"I'm going away for a while. I don't know when I'll be back." I crouched down next to him, face level with his.

"Tomorrow?" He asked hopefully.

"No, not tomorrow. Not for a long time." He stared at the floor.

"Will I see you again?"

"Of course. And I'll write you every day. Don't worry. You'll be fine without me." Without warning, he grabbed me in a big hug. A tear escaped me before I could control myself. "Hey, come on," I told him, gently pushing him away. "You've got to be strong. I want you to call the police and tell them what happened, ok? But don't tell them that… that I…"

"That you blew up?"

"Yeah. Just tell them that there are some Triads waiting for them in that alley, ok? I'm counting on you," I told him sternly. He nodded stoically.

"You got it. I'll miss you, big brother."

"I'll miss you too, little brother."

Downstairs, I scribbled out a note to Tianan, telling him what was going on, and I'd contact him as soon as possible, and not to be mad with me even though I hadn't told him anything about my 'powers.'

Kitty was sitting outside on the steps waiting for me. She stood up and started walking. I followed. We walked for what seemed like hours, finally coming to a small clearing about a mile outside of town. I was extremely frustrated.

"How are we getting to America, by doing this?" She grinned at pointed up at the sky. A sleek black jet circled twice overhead, and despite myself, I smiled.

This was gonna be so cool.

Like? Don't Like? Dragonoid's in the house! Again, don't own most of these characters. Please, read and review, FLAMES WELCOME!

-Zakonius


	2. Frenzy

Note: I own Zach Kastens, a.k.a Frenzy, and other characters except for Professor Xavier and the X-men. Read and Review, Flames welcome. I had to change the title because my other story was shut down by the Administration. For all you guys who reviewed, thanx, and keep 'em coming!

The thing that bothered me most about my school day was not the unavoidable wedgie from the seniors, the inevitable trip on the sophomore stairs, or the inexcusable rudeness from the freshmen. It was this stupid song!

"Maybe once you go, I'll be free/ Once you go, I'll be me… No that's awful!" I screamed in frustration and tried to madly erase my crappy lyrics. I needed inspiration. Without it, my songs came out both stale and embarrassingly lame. I needed a muse. I knew were to find one. Unfortunately, my already awful day was about to get worse.

"Aw, if it isn't Crack. What's up?" Jock Birckham. Ok, that's not his real name, but that's what everyone calls him. You probably have one of him in your school. Arrogant, self-centered, chauvinistic. Basically, me, only a senior and actually _good_ at sports.

"Good one. You come up with the rhyme all by yourself?" I retorted dryly. I never liked Jock. My first day as a freshman, he had been a junior, and had been determined to make my high-school career a nightmare. He had succeeded, to some degree, but we'd always been rivals.

"Watch it, sophomore. You ain't nothing but a scrub. And if you keep running your mouth, I'm gonna scrub this gym with your face," he grimaced, cracking his knuckles menacingly.

"Boy, you're full of wisecracks today. Maybe you should write stand-up or something," I replied, equally cool, while inside, I was screaming at myself, **SHUT UP YOU IDIOT! He's gonna kick your butt**!

"That's it. I've had enough of your crap. Get 'em, guys!" And I realized how incredibly stupid it is to insult a guy who is the captain of both the football _and_ wrestling team. Which is why I dragged myself through my front door that night with a bloody nose and a pounding headache. I swallowed a few pain-killers, then went to bed without any supper.

I woke up the next morning with two alarms going off in my ear: my clock and just a shrill whistle from my beating the other day. Turns out the whistle was my nose every time I breathed.

My parents weren't very sympathetic.

"We've told you time and again, if you mess with kids older than yourself, yada yada yada, blah blah blah," I stopped listening after the first part. Believe me, I didn't care about getting beat up by Jock and his buds. I knew it would happen sooner or later. But I was already working the idea over in my head, flipping it around, trying it from all angles, willing it to become poetry, to become a song. I slammed my fist down on the table impatiently, splattering milk and cereal everywhere.

"Listen, young man, if you can't eat and be civilized like a normal person-" My mom began, but I was already out the door.

"Hey cutie," I felt an arm hook into mine inadvertently. I looked to my side, hoping it was Sarah, but it was only Holly.

"Um, hey. What's up?" I asked, indifferently.

"Not much. I see you got some surgery done last night," She teased. I stopped and looked into a locker mirror.

"Jeez, is it that noticeable?" Holly laughed and opened her locker. Holly and I had been best friends for as long as I can remember. We just weren't compatible, romantically. Which was fine with me, I had all the romance I wanted with Sarah.

No, that's not true, I thought sourly. After all, she's your girlfriend, _she_ should be the one talking to you right now. Sometimes even I didn't get our 'relationship.' I stared at my reflection in the mirror. "Maybe she just wants to make you work for it, eh?" I asked. Unfortunately, my reflection just stared back at me, and wasn't the least bit helpful.

"Ok, so a rabbi, a priest and a pirate walk into a bar-" I began.

"And the bartender says, 'What is this, a joke?'" My friend Kale finished for me. We erupted into snorts and guffaws. Milk squirted out my nose. Holly looked at us like we were retarded.

"Sorry, it's a guy thing," I tried to explain. She picked up her tray in disgust and left the cafeteria.

"I just don't get her. You know she's into you, right?" Kale asked, stealing one of my French fries.

"Who, Holly?"

"Duh. She's been flirting with you enough."

"It's not like that, we're just friends," I told him, exasperated. We'd already had this conversation a million times. I think he was doing it now just to goad me. At that moment, Sarah walked by. "Gotta go!" I whispered, quickly whipping around to walk with her.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice icy steel. I was taken aback for a second.

"I was just wondering if…you know…you wanted to maybe go do something after school? I could walk you home? Carry your books? Clean your house? Spoon feed you crushed pineapples and fillet salmon for your whole family?" I begged lamely. She whirled around to face me, anger flaming in her eyes.

"Look, can't you just leave me alone for a few seconds! Man, all you do is beg for everything, and follow me like some stupid puppy! This is getting ridiculous!" She threw her books on the floor. A crowd was starting to form. I shifted uneasily. "Maybe if you weren't such a lame wuss, you wouldn't always be needing me to validate your existence! Maybe if you stood up for yourself and stopped following me, you'd realize that there's more to life than your boring songs! Read my lips: It. Is. Over!" Heat flooded my face. Blood rushed to my head. I felt dizzy. I felt like the entire school was watching. Kids were standing on top of cafeteria tables to see the confrontation.

"Oh, I knew this would happen…"

"Definitely…"

"Overbearing…"

"Overprotective…" There were people whispering in the crowd. I clenched my fists and tried to count to ten. That was when Wonder-boy showed.

"What's a matter, baby?" Jock asked, coolly slipping one arm around Sarah's waist. He turned to me. "This loser giving you trouble?" He grinned at me, a sardonic, twisted smile, and planted a large kiss on her lips. She gave in, fully. She actually seemed to enjoy it. And at that moment, the entire cafeteria went silent. What could I do? I had just been publicly humiliated in front of the entire student body by my rival and my girlfriend.

Jock laughed, seeing the look of pain on my face. He reached out one large hand to shove me.

I'm not sure how to put in plain words what happened at that moment in time. I felt like my world had frozen. I could feel every beat of my heart, rushing to my head, flooding my blood stream. I could feel the individual muscles and tendons in my body pulsate with barely-controlled energy. Do you know that feeling you get after you stay up late all night, are dead tired, sleep for twelve hours, and get up in the morning, feeling totally refreshed? Compress that all into about a millisecond. I was born again. I stopped being Zach, and started being something else.

My left hand snapped up away from body, as if on it's own, grabbed Jock's wrist and pulled backwards. At the same time, I let my body rock with the motion; bringing my right arm up and slamming him in the chin with my forearm. He dropped like a rock.

I was empowered. Something in me was awake, and I wasn't even going to try to suppress it. I was through being walked on by Sarah, by Jock, by everyone. My fallen adversary put one hand to his nose to check for blood.

"No," I stated calmly, amazed at how clearly I was speaking. "None yet." He stood up, anger plainly evident on every chiseled feature.

"Guys?" He called. From the crowd, his jock friends stepped forward. At least ten. I was unafraid. "Let's get this loser!" I could sense the punch before it came. I ducked, threw my leg out behind me, nailing a guy in the kneecap. I spun in that position, knocking Jock off of his feet with my outstretched leg. I tucked back into a crouch, and back flipped over the crowd onto a table.

"He's a-a-a mutant!" Someone screamed. I didn't care. I was ENERGIZED! With one giant leap, I flew, face-first, into another member of our basketball team, switching in mid air to nail him in the chest with my feet. I rolled backwards across the floor, getting up with lightning quick reflexes and leaping out of the way as the metal pipe cracked the ground where I had just been. Where had the pipe come from? And who just leaves one lying around a cafeteria?

"GRAWR!" I yelled. An inhuman snarl escaped my lips.

"Get him!" The pipe flew at my head from the side, my attacker laughing maniacally. I ducked, reached up with on hand and grasped the metal cylinder tightly. I jumped in the air and drop-kicked him, making him release his grip on the pipe. I gripped each end in one hand, and with a strength I hadn't realized I possessed, bent it into a near-perfect U.

"WOAH! Let's get out of here!" One remaining goon cried, all macho mannerisms forgotten. The rest who were left followed him out of the large double doors in a rushed exit. I dropped to all fours, and gave chase.

Four hours later, I slumped onto the front steps of my house, not one bit tired, just amazed at what I had done. And, to be honest, a little scared. Yes, I had stood up for myself. Yes, I wasn't getting stepped on anymore. But at what cost? A shadow fell across the ground in front of me. I didn't even look up.

"What do you want?" I grated.

"To talk to you." I didn't move. Just stiffened up, clenched my fists, and slowly looked at the speaker.

It was a man, bald, probably old, and in a wheelchair.

"What about?" I spoke. Funny. Now I could talk without some sort of animalistic growl coming out.

"I run a small school for people like you in New York," the man replied calmly. I could that he wasn't afraid of me. But if he knew about my freak-out in school today…

"What do you mean, 'people like me?'" I questioned.

"Mutants, Zach. Other people with gifts like yours." There was a note of wonder in his voice.

"I'm not a mutant. I just…freaked out a little in school today. No big." Yeah, right. Like trashing a bunch of star athletes was no big deal.

"Can all humans move like you? Jump like you? Run like you?" I stared down at my feet noncommittally. He leaned closer and began to whisper. "Let me help you control this power! With it, you could help the world so much!" I sighed.

"I haven't even talked to my parents about this…this 'gift' yet! I can't just leave with you!" I stood up, rising to my full height, trying to intimidate the man. Which, even though he was in the wheelchair, I was strangely intimidated by _ him_. He laughed. A small, sardonic laugh.

"Believe me, when the school finds out what you are, you won't want to stay here." I glanced at the door behind me. The silence stretched for what seemed like hours. Did I really want to leave? I definitely couldn't go back…

"All right. Why don't you come inside and talk to my parents." I stopped and turned around. "What did you say your name was?" The man smiled, like he was sharing a secret with me.

"I didn't. It's Xavier."

Well, what'd you think? This is an example of how I'm going to be writing all the first chapters. I decided to up the ante to accepting five instead of four mutants, so keep 'em coming!


	3. Once Bitten

Hey, Sorry it took me so long. This takes place almost a month after Zach, Chang and Cameron come to the Institute, and is the sequel to my story Starting Over. Hope you enjoy, flames appreciated.

Note: Don't Own X-men: Evolution, or any of the characters portrayed here. Have a nice day :D

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"What do you want?" She asked, her voice icy steel. I was taken aback for a second.

"I was just wondering if…you know…you wanted to maybe go do something after school? I could walk you home? Carry your books? Clean your house? Spoon feed you crushed pineapples and fillet salmon for your whole family?" I begged lamely. She whirled around to face me, anger flaming in her eyes.

"Look, can't you just leave me alone for a few seconds! Man, all you do is beg for everything, and follow me like some stupid puppy! This is getting ridiculous!" She threw her books on the floor. A crowd was starting to form. I shifted uneasily. "Maybe if you weren't such a lame wuss, you wouldn't always be needing me to validate your existence! Maybe if you stood up for yourself and stopped following me, you'd realize that there's more to life than your boring songs! Read my lips: It. Is. Over!" Heat flooded my face. Blood rushed to my head. I felt dizzy. I felt like the entire school was watching. Kids were standing on top of cafeteria tables to see the confrontation.

"Oh, I knew this would happen…"

"Definitely…"

"Overbearing…"

"Overprotective…" There were people whispering in the crowd. I clenched my fists and tried to count to ten. That was when Wonder-boy showed.

"What's a matter, baby?" Jock asked, coolly slipping one arm around Sarah's waist. He turned to me. "This loser giving you trouble?" He grinned at me, a sardonic, twisted smile, and planted a large kiss on her lips. She gave in, fully. She actually seemed to enjoy it. And at that moment, the entire cafeteria went silent. What could I do? I had just been publicly humiliated in front of the entire student body by my rival and my girlfriend.

"Don't," A voice to my right said. I turned to look and found I was seeing…me?

"What's going on?" I was looking at me, only me wearing the X-man uniform.

"Don't hurt him, man. You will definitely regret it later," the X-man version of me said.

"But he totally deserves it!"

"Yeah, but think of the consequences!"

"Forget the consequences!" A new voice. I looked to my left and saw another me, dressed exactly like me. "He just took your girl! He humiliated you in front of the school! He just ruined your life! Are you going to take it?" I gripped my head.

"Who are you people?" I yelled at them. They were making me dizzy.

"Come on, stop playing the wuss!" Regular me berated.

"No, just take it!" X-man me begged.

Jock laughed, seeing the look of pain on my face. He reached out one large hand to shove me. And I had no idea what to do.

"YAAH!" I woke up suddenly, throwing my sheets off and rolling out of bed. There was a loud snort from the bed across from me and Chang turned over in his sleep. I picked at my shirt, realizing it was sopping wet. "Jeez, how much longer can this go on?" I asked, struggling with the balcony door in the dark and finally prying it open. I leaned against the railing, staring out at the ocean behind the Institute, where earlier I had scrabbled down with Kurt like a spider-monkey to rescue an 'unconscious' Magma.

I shifted positions, looking back into the room, then sweeping my eyes to the right so I could see into Kitty and Rogue's room. They had been more sensible tonight than other nights and drew the blinds.

Hey, I _am_ still a guy, no matter how much of a mutant I am.

I couldn't seem to get comfortable standing, so I climbed onto the railing a crouched down. I was amazed at how…_right_…it felt. To just be outside, the wind softly blowing across my sweat stained back. There was the sound of approaching footsteps behind me, and I immediately knew who it was.

"Can't sleep?" She asked. I nodded.

"Bad dreams," I stated, by way of explanation.

"We all have them. Don't sweat it," She consoled, then laughed at her inadvertent play on words. I sighed.

"You don't understand," I said softly, feeling sweat and other things run down my back. My shirt was soaking wet and I was beginning to feel dizzy. "You can control… it. Your powers." I turned to face her. Seeing her standing there, looking so small in her pajamas, I couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion. "This…this thing just keeps taking me over…" I looked away and out into the night.

I was balanced perfectly on the rail of the balcony, feet gripping the wooden railing tightly, adhered to it by the chemicals secreted through the pores of my feet. Behind me, a girl stood quietly, arms held tight around herself, as if she was afraid.

Afraid of me.

"Zach, that's why you're here. You're going to learn, it just takes time." Her words were both confident and soothing. I couldn't help but feel better just listening to her voice. Something touched the back of my neck, and my entire body went electric. It was her hand. It slowly moved up, to the base of the skull, and began to play with the soft hair there.

"Don't," I said softly, not moving, feeling small shivers run up and down my spine.

"Why not?" She asked. Was she teasing? I couldn't tell. All I knew was there was something that was coming off of her…some _smell_…that was driving me nuts.

"Because," I tried to explain, trying to concentrate. My eyes wouldn't focus. The pleasant sensations on the back of my head continued as she traced her fingers lightly through. "I can't stand it…that's my zone." Even without looking I knew she had cocked one eyebrow in question.

"Your 'zone?'" I nodded this time, grateful for the release it gave me from her roaming fingers.

"That's my spot, my…" I was at a loss for words. I couldn't explain what that place was, but she giggled knowingly and stepped up aside of me, before swinging one leg over the railing and sitting down.

"I get it. This," She said, pointing to a spot one inch above her kneecap, "is mine."

Ok, this had never happened before. A girl flirting with _me_? On purpose? I inadvertently realized that my skin was completely dry, whereas when she had first came, it was sopping wet. My shirt, too, was becoming less clingy by the second as the moisture was absorbed back into my skin.

"That's…um…" I stopped talking. My track record with girls isn't exactly great. "Listen, it's pretty late, Ororo will be mad at us, and Logan will put us in some sort of hellish detention, so we better…" I trailed off, realizing I was babbling. She smiled and took my hand, and a second later, I found it right on her knee.

She really was too close. Her face was getting closer all the time, closing the gap with startling swiftness, the moonlight glancing off the curves of her face, the breeze ruffling her dark hair and pajamas. What was I doing? I barely knew this girl!

And in a second, that didn't seem to matter at all. Our worlds collided as our skin met, brushing up lightly at first, then more forcefully. I felt her hand come around to the back of my neck again, but I reached up and grabbed it, before breaking off our kiss. I couldn't look her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said, now embarrassed by her forwardness. "I shouldn't have done that…I couldn't help it." Here was _another_ first. A girl actually apologizing to me. I didn't answer. What could I say? I did, however, allow a slight grin to tug at the corners of my lips. I don't know how she took this, but a second later, she was gone, and I was left to stare at the quiet grounds of the Institute alone.

I awoke the next morning still sitting on the railing, arms folded around my torso to keep warm. The memory of it all came back to me, waking up screaming, running to the balcony in confusion, her appearing, her talking to me, and then the kiss…I couldn't help by smile as the words sank in, and then my smile became a totally loopy idiot grin.

_My first kiss!_

"YES!" I screamed, pumping one fist in the air and back flipping into the room in one fluid motion. I spring boarded onto Chang's bed and was about to wake him up before remembering what happened the last time I decided to rise him from his slumber.

Too late.

I ducked low as a jet of flame singed the air above me, burning the ceiling black. Luckily, the Professor had installed flame resistant paneling on the walls. Otherwise, the Institute would've long since been burned to the ground. Chang blinked for a second, clearing the sleep out of his eyes and waving away the smoke in front of his face.

"What now?" He mumbled, reaching for his alarm clock to check the time. "Oh, no…Training with Logan today. I really, really don't want to go." I started to tell him about my experience, but then thought better of it. After all, I'd only known the guy for a month, and he _was_ a couple of years older. Besides, how could I be sure she was ok with it? Maybe she regretted it more than she had let on. I bounced off the large bed and reached under my own, groping for shoes. Man, summer, and I was up already? Why was I awake?

Oh, right. Danger Room.

I abandoned the search for footwear and pulled out the standard X-men training suit I had been given my first week here. I pulled on the boots and gloves, enjoying the feel of the lightweight material. After I had put on the entire suit, it felt like I was wearing nothing at all. I had to double check in the mirror just to be sure.

Of course, not all the other students' suits felt like that. Though they all had the same basic look, they were all custom designed for the special 'gifts' each had. For instance, Chang's had more padding in it, not to so much for his protection, but to keep heat in his body. Also, his sleeves only went past the elbows. Otherwise, when he used his secondary power, the entire thing would have become a fire hazard. This also made the smattering of scales on his forearms visible.

Each student had taken to further customizing their outfit beyond the limits of the original design. Little changes, subtle nuances and additions. Chang reached for the headband he wore with his uniform and wrapped it around his head in the same steady, methodical pace I had seen him do every time we suited up. Me, I didn't go in for that.

My suit was fine for me. The material was thin enough so I could expel the chemicals from my body easily, and light enough that I had no trouble moving. 

I tested my glove flexibility before flexing a couple of random muscles.

"Let's do this." I shoved open the door and strode into the hallway.

There's not much to be said about Danger Room sessions, except that they are unbelievably long and tiring. Not to mention, painful.

Cameron groaned resignedly. Or, she would've groaned, if I could hear her. She flexed her hand a couple of times, then made wrapping motions with her other, circling over and under. I nodded to show I understood and reached underneath the shelf for the drawer that held the emergency tape and wrap. There were only a few of us down here. I wasn't injured too badly, just a couple of cuts, but Cameron had complained of a sore hand. Well, as much complaining as a mute person can do. She wasn't as bad off as poor Jamie, though, who was hooked up to a large computer, probes attached to his face while little lines danced around on the screen.

He had been hit during the course of the battle, and when he reabsorbed his clones, all their injuries multiplied inside of him. Most of the superficial cuts and bruises had been dealt with, but he had a headache the size of Iowa and it showed. The kid was curled up into a little ball, shivering wildly. Jean was in front of the computer, tapping out keystroke commands idly.

I finished helping Cameron wrap her hand and she left to get an X-ray, just in case it was broken. I couldn't help but start to think of last night.

"What are you doing?" I asked, pointing at the screen, trying to take my mind off of what I had come to call The Kiss. My mental shields weren't as good as some of the other students. Professor X had told me that it was because I was new, and that I had too much trouble controlling my power anyway to worry about blocking out other people. Usually, it didn't bother me. I don't normally care whether people know what I'm thinking or not, but this was different. This was a private, special thing, and I didn't want Jean to know about it. And you _always_ have to be careful what you're thinking around Miss Jean Grey.

She glanced up in response to my question, then spoke.

"We can't give Jamie normal drugs because his metabolism is slightly different than regular humans. We can't predict how it would affect him, so we're trying a different method. The idea is that by applying small shocks into the right lobes of his brain," she demonstrated by calling up a picture of a rotating brain, "we can eliminate what causes the headache." She smiled at me, like I understood. I just nodded and began to leave before she stopped me. "You shouldn't worry about it." I turned, ran one hand nonchalantly through my hair, and placed the other one on the door handle.

"Worry about what?" My voice only came out as a squeak.

"The Kiss," She said, and I knew there was no point in pretending I had no idea what she was talking about. "But I wouldn't tell anyone just yet, either." I threw my hands in the air.

"For an 'A' student, Jean, you don't make a whole lot of sense." She just smiled and continued tapping away at the keyboard.

BAMF! Sulfur and brimstone assaulted my nostrils, and I waved my hands around to clear the smoke. Kurt was perched comfortably on the seat of the large squashy armchair I was sitting in, now reading over my shoulder.

"Could you please not do that," I grated, slamming my book shut and glaring at him. His yellow eyes looked taken aback.

"Sorry. Thought you could use a little company," He replied, not moving. "You've been kind of quiet since ze Danger Room session." I sighed and opened my book again. At least Kurt didn't have telepathic powers. "Just a little distracted. School starts in what, a week?"

"Three days," Kurt corrected, holding up all of his fingers. "Just vhen ve get comfortable." He sighed and teleported to the couch in a reclining position to demonstrate his point. "Are you vorried about ze new year?"

"Sorta," I concluded after much thought. "I didn't exactly do too well at my last school." Kurt grabbed the remote and began to flip through the channels on the T.V.

"Vhere you in trouble a lot?" He asked nonchalantly, flipping to an old Family Guy rerun.

"Not exactly," I told him, trying to find my page again. "But there was a lot of talk about 'realizing my potential.'" He smiled at that.

"Ja, zat's pretty much ze basic teacher fallback plan. If all else vails, zen you're not 'realizing your potential.'" I finally gave up the search for my last place, threw the book down, and walked into the kitchen in irritation. Kurt waved mildly, but he was already absorbed in the T.V.

Once in the kitchen, I rummaged through the refrigerator, pulling out food that would have been good, but was hardly considered 'snackage.'

"You'd think," I grunted, pulling out a large piece of chicken and placing it on the counter, then reaching back in, "With a mansion full of teens, there would be some pie, or some cookies, or some…" I spotted a large box of corndogs. "Bingo!" I pulled them out, threw a couple on a plate, and set the microwave. I pulled up a seat and waited for my food to get warm.

Unfortunately, you can never count on much privacy in the mansion.

"Watcha doin?"

"YAH!" I yelled, spinning around when I felt the hand on my shoulder. I was expecting to see Amara or Jubilee, but I saw Kitty. My heart jumped into my throat.

She had phased through the ceiling and was now standing inside of the table. A very, very disturbing image. Now, she was looking at me with the same expectant grin that she had worn last night when sitting beside me on the balcony.

"A little jumpy, aren't we?" She teased, picking an apple off of the platter in the center of the table and crunching it. She wiped her lips and offered me a bite. I shook my head and pointed to the microwave, which was done nuking my food.

"Sorry. Guess I didn't get enough sleep last night," I replied coyly. Her cheeks turned bright red and she pretended to be very interested in her fingernails. I waited for her to speak, putting ketchup on my plate and beginning to eat.

"Listen, I might have gotten a little carried away last night," She began. I stopped eating and gave her my complete attention. "But I understand if you don't feel the same way. I do like you, and I really want something to happen, but I, like, realize that it was forward, and I-" She furrowed her brows. "What's so funny?" She asked in indignation. I controlled myself as I realized I was giggling.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, waving my hand for her to continue. "It's just that right now, you sound like me talking to other girls back home." I suddenly realized how badly I was screwing this up. I was talking to a girl who actually liked me, and all I could talk about was the ladies back home? She smiled, though, and I took that to mean she didn't take offense.

"Ok, so let's start over. Are you planning on doing anything tonight?" She asked.

"Nope. Let's go somewhere." She smiled at that.

"Cool, meet you outside at eight?"

"Definite." I thought for a second. "I'll ask the Professor if I can borrow one of the Institute's cars."

"That sounds like fun. See you later?"

"Of course." She phased through the kitchen door, leaving me with a half eaten corndog and a major headache.

"What should I do, Camshaft?" I groaned, putting my head down in my hands and slouching over the desk in her room. She was lucky enough to have her own room here at the Institute, one of the few students who did.

She sighed and turned off her stereo, which in itself is utter weirdness.

See, Cam's got this thing with sound. She can absorb it, and let it back out magnified. So, I knew that _she _could hear the music that was playing. Just no one else could, because technically, there were no sound waves left to hear.

"You need to just be confident." Ok, another level of weirdness. A little byproduct of Cameron's mutation is that her body absorbs all sound that she makes. _All_ sound. Basically, you can't hear anything she does. She can pound on a table, or stomp her feet, or scream as loud as she can, and we can't hear it. It's a little creepy, because she can sneak up on a person really easily. But like I said, since she absorbs all sound, even her voice, all I see is her 'mouthing' the words. And the ultra bizarr-o thing is that most people can understand her.

"It's not that easy. I've never been on an actual _date-_date before," I explained. "Back home, a date was a Coke at the local CheezWiz and a movie."

"Why are you asking me. Why don't you ask Scott?"

"Huh?" I hadn't been looking directly at her and hadn't seen what she'd said at that time.

"Ask Scott." At that I had to laugh.

"Mr. Stick-fist himself? For dating advice? Sorry, I can't believe old one-eye's ever had a date in his life." Cameron just shrugged.

"That's not what I heard." I froze in mid-snicker.

"Huh?"

"Apparently he's got an active social life." She looked straight at me and pantomimed with her hands. "_Very_ Active." I just stared at her. The next second, I was out the door and running for Scott's room.

Unfortunately for me, Scott lived pretty much on the other side of the mansion in the senior hallway. To get there, I had to go across the main lobby and hope that Jean or someone didn't slap me with some menial chore.

No such luck.

"Zach!" I froze and turned around as Ororo walked up to me, a huge potted plant in each arm. She had an expectant grin on her face. "Are you doing anything right now? I could really use the help." She didn't even wait for a reply and shoved one into my arms.

"Uh…sure." Just then the doorbell rang. An out! "I'll get it!" I dropped the plant and raced for the door. There was a Whuf-whuf-WHUF! sound on my right and a streak of flesh shot by me. Cannonball! The only problem was he had a little trouble stopping.

WHAM!

"Oh man," He groaned, rubbing his head. I could practically see the stars dancing in front of his eyes.

"Next time, use the brakes, ok?" I offered, helping him up and opening the door. I was very surprised to see six rather large men standing there. I paused for a moment. They didn't look…right. They were all wearing normal clothes, but the way they were standing…like there was a kind of special order to who stood where. I shook the feeling off. "Can I help you?" I asked.

"I doubt it," A man wearing khakis and a red flannel said. "I need to speak to Xavier." He took a step forward, as if to come in, but I put a hand on his chest.

"_Professor _Xavier," I corrected. "Does he know you're coming?" My voice was ice. The man glared at me.

"No."

"Then I'm sorry. You'll have to either make an appointment or wait here while someone gets him." The man nodded like he understood.

"Alright. Maybe you _can_ help me." He motioned with two fingers and a second man in a tank top and shorts stepped up with a picture.

"Have you seen this girl?" I grabbed the picture from him. It was a picture of Cameron.

"Yeah," I replied uneasily, handing the photo back. Something wasn't right here. Why did this guy have a photo of Cameron? Was she in trouble? Were _we _in trouble? Did he know we were mutants? Should I get the Professor? Why wasn't Ororo coming?

"Does she live here?"

"Who are you?" I asked, not about to let some stranger into _our_ mansion.

"Does she live here?" He repeated, like he hadn't heard me.

"Who _are_ you!?" I yelled, hand on the door. Ready to slam it shut in case he tried to force his way in.

"That," the man minced, drawing what looked like a very, _very_ big gun. "Is none of your concern." He pointed it straight at my heart and squeezed the trigger.

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Oooh, cliffhanger. Right, the second chapter will be up soon, a little insight into Cameron's past and her present. By the way, check out Newbies Needed, it's already got a great start. Word up, later yo, this is Zach.


	4. Betrayer and Betrayed

I didn't know what to do. The fire was everywhere! Screaming, dancing…licking the explosive liquids which ignited and destroyed years of my uncle's work. I put two furry hands to my ears in an effort to protect myself, but to no avail.

I felt so small. So small and weak. 

I leaped out of the way as a large beam crashed down beside of me, embers sparking into my fur and causing me to circle in terror. I shrieked openly, screaming for my uncle to help me, to save me, but I could see him, separated by leaping flames.

The flames of hell………

I couldn't move more than a few feet in any direction; the fire blocked my escape. Behind me, I heard sirens outside. That's when I realized I was next to the only window in the laboratory, a small four foot by two foot square that led to the outside world.

The window was nearly ten feet above me, the high ceiling accounting for this fact. My mind raced at a million miles an hour, trying to churn out a solution, until I finally gave up and let instinct take over. I sprinted for the wall behind me, scrabbling upwards as best I could, using my tail to help push me off the ground. I could hear my uncle shouting at me, but I could not make out the words. The flames were closing in below me just as I reached the window. I fumbled with the latch until it finally popped open and I could push the window outwards.

I glanced one last time at the lab to see if I could signal my uncle, but he was hidden by a smoky haze that blanketed the entire room. Shoving myself out of the window, I searched for handholds in the rough brick that covered the building that my uncle used as his laboratory. I spared a glance downward, seeing that we were already three stories in the air.

_Okay, Jeff. No time to panic. Climb!_ My furry hands and feet grappled with the wall, now that I was fully out of the building. I shimmied sideways quickly, never doubting where I placed my feet, knowing that I was finding all of the best spots, until I came to the drainage pipe that ran clear to the ground. The pipe was no more than six inches in diameter, but that was all I needed. My strong hands grasped it, the rough pads that covered them combating the normal slickness of the drainpipe, so I would not slip and fall to my death.

Death. It seemed all too real right now.

I began to climb, hand over hand, foot over foot, my tail coming last, wrapped around the pipe in case I should fall. At this point, I wasn't even thinking of how the fire could easily consume the ceiling and roof of the building, as I had no idea how fire _worked._

But I was climbing up a drain pipe, something I had never done before, the mad rush of sirens below me, flashing red lights at my back, heat emanating off the building, which was now, essentially, a furnace. I finally reached the top of the building, scrabbling to safety with a grace I had not known I possessed. My feet crunched on the gravel that was spread across the rooftop, but I could not stay in place for long. The fire below had turned the rocks into so many hot coals.

I panicked suddenly with the realization that not only was I in a strange place, I was totally alone. 

"UNCLE ROD!" I screamed. My high-pitched voice was drowned out by the noise that drifted up the rooftop. I ran on all fours until I reached the other side of the building. I screamed for my uncle again, tears running down my cheeks. Where _was _he!?

"Jeff?" A voice called behind me. I turned quickly to see a smoke-stained man rise from the fire escape.

My uncle. I ran to him and hugged him, unaware that some hundred feet away, a man dressed in black was watching us with a pair of binoculars…

That was nine years ago. I'm older now, wiser. Definitely more mature. And a lot more religious.

The religious part was the doing of my uncle. Ever since the fire, he's been teaching me the Bible. And right now, I was having a particularly difficult time with understanding and acceptance, the two things that Uncle told me were most important in the Word.

"But," I began, my voice seeming both uncertain and weak. "It says God made the livestock and the animals of the Earth. Then, it says God made the man of the earth," I quoted. I then brought myself to the question I had never dared ask before. "So…where do _I _come in?" I gestured towards my abnormally dexterous hands, the rounded ears, maneuverable toes, and six-foot-long prehensile tail that stretched out behind me. My uncle sighed resolutely, scratching his head and thinking about my question.

"I'm not sure," He said finally. "But that doesn't mean that there's no plan for you. A lot of what God does is not understood until the end. You know the old saying…"

"'My life is but a weaving, between the Lord and me,'" I quoted.

"Right," he nodded. "You just have to have faith and someday, you'll see exactly who you are and what you need to do." I didn't move. He stood up to leave, our lessons for the day finished.

"Can I go up top?" I asked suddenly. He sighed, and I knew he wanted to say no.

"Ok, but be careful. Don't let anyone see you. And put on some more normal clothes in case anyone does." It was my turn to sigh. "Either do it or don't go," my uncle ordered, and I had to agree.

I kept a few sets of more teenage-friendly clothes in my closet, but most of the time I wore shorts and tight tank tops. I just didn't feel comfortable in anything more.

However, this time I found a pair of baggy jeans and a hooded sweatshirt to wear. I didn't own shoes, mostly because climbing required the use of my toes, and shoes would just ruin that.

My uncle owned a two bedroom apartment, with one bathroom, a kitchen, and a living/dining room. After the fire at the lab, we moved here. It was hard to get me in without anyone seeing me, but fortunately at that time I was small enough to be covered in some old clothes from a thrift store, and my tail was short enough-three feet-that I could wrap it around my waist without anybody noticing. Now, whenever I did and hid it under my shirt I just looked chubby.

My room was sparsely decorated, only a few posters on the walls, and a hammock, rather than a bed, hanging lazily from the corner closest to the window. The posters were bands I had heard while watching MTV. Since I couldn't go outside much, my uncle had insisted that I learn my social skills from the television while he was gone. It wasn't an altogether stupid idea, but there were certain…inadequacies to it.

Specifically, girls. Ok, yes, I was covered in brown fur, had a large six foot whip sticking out of my butt, and could use chopsticks with my feet, but still, I was _somewhat_ human. And you can't learn how to pick up girls from soap operas and teen comedies. I sighed on this very familiar note and, making sure no one was looking up from the ground below, climbed out of the window and scaled the wall upwards.

We lived in a larger apartment building, almost ten stories high. Our place was on the fourth floor, and I never got tired of climbing back down-face first- to my window and slinking inside. It was just so…liberating. Most of the time I was cooped up inside, and the only exercise I got was at nights, scaling buildings, running across rooftops…

Sometimes, when I made sure my uncle was asleep, I made my way to the nearest park and climbed the trees there. Of course, I was careful of policemen, homeless persons, and people in general. But there was something mystic, almost magical, about sitting at the top of a large oak tree, gazing at the moon and listening to the rush of the city around you.

Today, though, I was in broad daylight, so I settled for sitting on top of the giant antenna that protruded from the rooftop for a good thirty feet, reading the Psalms over again. I stopped as the sun began to set looking at it in wonder, pondering how the world worked, when I heard a very familiar sounds.

Three long beeps in a row. I looked around for the sound, but I could not see anyone. Three short beeps. What. Was that a man standing below me? What was he holding? Three-

I was back inside my room, the only light coming from a small desk lamp at the computer desk. What was going on? What had happened? I rushed to the window before realizing I was no longer wearing my sweatshirt and jeans. They had been discarded on the floor by the window, which now was dark. It was night? I looked at my digital clock. Ten thirty? But it was barely seven when I was on the roof top!

Suddenly, my door flew open.

"We have to leave," My uncle panted, holding a bunch of clothes in his hands and a duffel bag. "Get all of your stuff together, go out the window, and meet me at the back door as soon as possible."

"Why? What's wrong?" I asked, scared now. My uncle never ever was like this. Scared, nervous. 

"Mrs. Ethman upstairs saw you outside a few minutes ago. And the landlord spotted you on the rooftop." What? How? Was that why I was suddenly back in my room, and three hours had mysteriously disappeared? My uncle left to finish deciding which personal junk to take with him. I pulled on the clothes again, this time tying a pair of size 12 shoes together by the laces and hanging them around my neck before pulling the hood over my head. I stuffed my pocket Bible into my jeans pocket, grabbing a spare backpack that I had for just such an emergency, and putting clothes into it. 

I made my way to the bathroom and began packing my toothbrush and other personal hygiene tools, including a brush and several combs. Hey, being furry isn't as great as you'd think. There was an unexpected knock on the door as I zipped my pack.

Uncle Rod looked very scared.

"Run. Go out the window," He ordered, and when I didn't move, he yelled, "Now!"

There was a loud CRUNCH and the door hit the floor, four men in police uniforms rushing in.

"Rodney Seales! You are under arrest!" A particularly burly-looking cop shouted, holding up his badge for show. Then, they spotted me, frozen in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Holy-! Sarge, what is that?" One of the policemen gripping a rifle cried. The rest where all holding handguns, pointed at Uncle Rod. 'Sarge' didn't say anything.

"Run, Jeff!" Rod yelled, and I finally heeded his words, dashing for my bedroom.

"Shoot it!" 'Sarge' finally made a decision. Bullets pierced the air around me. I halted as the shrieking bullets flew into the air around me. I took quick stock of the situation as they retrained their weapons on me, before leaping close enough so they couldn't attack. I cracked my tail like a whip, latching around the one man's rifle and yanking it out of his hands. The guy looked extremely surprised as I flung it backwards behind the couch, far out of reach. I back flipped towards my room and ducked inside. I slammed the door shut; making sure my tail was inside. I didn't even pause, just leaped right out of the window and scrambled up the side of the building.

Ka-POW! I glanced at the brick beside me as a bullet ricocheted off. That meant that there were snipers below me. Well, I thought, gritting my teeth, Let's see how fast they are!

I practically flew up the side of the building, not even pausing long enough to make sure I had good foot holds, my brain screaming at me to slow down, but my instincts screaming at me to go faster.

I chose to obey my instincts because, let's face it; my brain wasn't in the best shape at this moment. I scrabbled wildly up; finger clutching stone, slipping into miniscule cracks, feet propelling myself upward while my tail whipped uselessly behind me. Bullets Ka-Chinged off of the building around me, coming close, but never close enough to make me really afraid.

"The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want," I breathed when a bullet came slammed into the rock I was just about to grab. "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures," I finished, deciding to ditch the building. I took one breath and leaped away, spinning myself around so I was going down spread-eagled. The ground rushed towards me with startling swiftness, closing the distance from eighty feet to ten. I managed to grip the streetlight that rose from the sidewalk, surprising the police below me as I swung around with the force of my momentum and somersaulted across the street, cars honking their horns furiously.

I hit the sidewalk, decided not to try and scale the much smaller clinic across the street, and instead ducked around it into an alleyway, running on all fours. I needed someplace to hide, someplace to get away! But I couldn't think properly, there was the little voice in my ear, whispering to me, my conscience.

_You! It's all your fault now! Uncle Rod will go to jail forever because you were stupid enough to be seen in broad daylight! You knowingly betrayed your Uncle and destroyed his life!_

Shut up! I ordered the voice. I started pulling over trash cans with my tail, in case anyone was following me. I hoped that the rubbish would slow them down, at the very least. Ignoring the now-screaming voice in my head, I leaped to a fire escape and began scrabbling up the side. If I could get to the top of this building, maybe four stories high, I could probably get away.

That is, if they didn't bring in a helicopter. For a fleeting instant, I knew exactly why Uncle Rod had kept me a secret for so long. People just didn't understand. The police back at the apartment were proof of that.

Well, one thing was for sure: I could not stay here any longer. Soon, everyone would be looking for me; the Police, Animal Control, anyone who was remotely concerned about a half-man, half-monkey prowling the cityscape of our fair city.

I chose not to go all the way to the structure's summit, instead slipping inside through an open window and padding quietly down a hallway. I realized I had lost my shoes when leaping from my home (I choked on the word) and was grateful not to have the dead weight around my neck. I was in another apartment building and I could hear televisions blaring from behind various doors. I found one that was abnormally quiet and, deciding to take a chance, slid my tail under the door. If anyone were to come and find me, it would look like I was just sitting there with my back against it, for I kept my head tucked down and my hands and feet out of sight. I easily reached the deadbolt lock, using my tail as an extra-sensitive hand. Fortunately, the deadbolts were not pulled, so I knew no one could be inside. I maneuvered so that I could wrap the end of my tail around the knob and twist. It took a couple of tries, but I finally managed to open the door and crawl in.

I mentally laughed to myself. _Jeff Seales, Super Thief. Spiderman has nothing on me!_ I closed the door quietly, taking in the vast expanse. It was a much smaller place than I was used to, and I immediately felt claustrophobic. I opened a few windows, and that helped some. Still, it did nothing to quell my now raging fear that any second, the entire building was going to explode into flames. 

Fortunately, fear has nothing on sleep, and I drifted off to thoughts of climbing………visions of a forest I'd never seen………

I woke up underneath a blanket, and I suddenly realized I was cold. The extra sweater and jeans, plus my fur and the blanket, should have kept me warm, but didn't. I lifted the blanket somewhat to look out from underneath it, when I realized that it was very windy. I stopped suddenly, fearing the worst. I carefully shifted my weight, so I could see what I was laying on.

Metal. Red metal that I instantly recognized as the bed of a pickup. I mentally cursed myself. How did I get in the back of a pickup, which was obviously traveling very fast. I chanced a glance out from under the blanket, which I now realized was actually a tarp, and saw that we were on a highway. I could see, behind us, a sign that read:

NOW LEAVING BAYVILLE, NEW YORK

That meant we were actually _ entering_ Bayville, New York. Like I had any clue where that was. How long had I been asleep? I mean, I didn't even _live_ in New York State, and I'd never been to Bayville. Something weird was definitely going on.

First, I space out on top of the antenna, then come back to three hours later inside of my room. Then, I fall asleep in the middle of the night in an empty apartment and wake up in the back of a pickup in another state. I was getting out of here before I could get into any more trouble. As soon as we stopped………

I heard a door slam and tensed my legs underneath me.

"Hey Bert, where are you going?" I heard one guy say after there was much crunching on what I assumed to be gravel.

"I'm just going to go get something to eat!" Another guy protested. He sounded smaller.

"Well, we gotta deliver this stuff, first!" I had noticed on the trip up that there were several boxes in the back, and had taken the liberty of checking what was inside. Just log chains and stuff. Suddenly, the tarp was pulled off and I was in plain sight.

"Hey, kid!" One man yelled, who I could now see was wearing a flannel shirt and had a five o' clock shadow. He looked like a lumberjack. "What're you doing back here?"

"That's no kid!" The other one exclaimed, who looked more like an executive, with a crisp suit and checkered tie. "Look at his tail!"

"Is it a monkey?"

"No, it's too big to be a monkey!" I didn't wait for them to finish their argument. I leaped over the cab of the truck and hit the hood, sliding onto the ground and running on all fours. Where should I go? I was in an unfamiliar place, in unfamiliar territory. Should I-

The room was dark and gloomy, save for the flashing of hundreds of monitors and blinking lights. Two men stood, hidden by shadows, behind a glass partition that separated them from the twenty other men in the control room. One entire wall was dominated by a giant screen, and on that screen, the Operative was shown.

"Should we activate him?" One of the shadowed figures asked the other. On the screen, the Operative had escaped from the truck bed and was now looking for a way out. The two deliverers were coming after him.

"Yes. Cutter, give the order." Cutter nodded and leaned closer to the microphone.

"Activate the Operative." One of the many soldiers, for that is what they were, saluted in recognition and pressed a button. On the screen, the one named Jeffrey Seales stopped cold before spinning around and slamming into Business Suit with his fist, wrapping his tail around Lumberjack's neck and throwing him to the ground in one swift motion.

"Good," The shadowed figure muttered, a grin playing across his features. "Now, send him after the Target."

CHANG'S P.O.V.

BLAM! Something that sounded surprisingly like a gunshot went off, the sound echoing through the hallways of the mansion. The sound was followed by screams, yells, and more gunshots.

I sat up straight in my bed, racing for the door. I opened it just as Scott came running past, followed closely by Roberto and Jamie.

"What's going on?!" I yelled.

"Not sure!" Cyclops returned. "Come on, something's happening in the foyer!" I followed after Jamie, helping to pick up a couple of his doubles when he tripped on a flight of stairs. As we ran past windows where sunlight was pouring in, Roberto charged up, turning black and emanating flames. I followed his cue and started rubbing my hands together in preparation of a fight. I noticed that Scott had switched from his glasses to his visor for better control.

"Any idea, Sunspot?" I asked quickly, using Roberto's codename. One of the Jamies I was helping disappeared in my arms.

"No idea, Dragonoid. Probably Logan running some off-the-hook Danger Room session."

"In the foyer?" I said to no one in particular.

We finally reached the top of the stairs that led down the foyer, only to see Cannonball and Frenzy dragging in bodies. Storm was helping by checking pulses on the unconscious guys that my mutant friends were pulling through the doorway.

"What happened?" Cyclops asked, all cool and in control. I noticed that Storm had dropped a large potted plant. Dirt and pottery shards covered the floor.

"No big, man. These guys were asking for Cameron, and Cannonball and I took care of them," Frenzy drawled in that arrogant way he has. "One of them managed to nick me, but luckily Cannonball took care of him before he could hit what he was _really_ aiming at." My friend grinned, point to a small trickle of blood on his shoulder, where the fabric of his shirt had been torn open.

"Stop being so modest. Does it hurt?" I asked. Zach just grinned even more.

"Course not. Nothing hurts a stud like me!" I laughed.

"How about this!" I jammed a thumb onto the wound and pressed as hard as I could. He yelped loudly.

"Chang!" Ororo scolded. I pulled my hand back quickly.

"Sorry, ma'am." Zach rubbed his shoulder and scowled at me. "So what did they want with Cameron?"

"I'll have to see the Professor about this," Ororo murmered. "Scott, you and the rest get these men to the infirmary. I have to go find Logan." She left hurriedly in the direction of the Danger Room. I think Logan might have had a romantic interest in that place. For a few seconds, Sam, Zach, Scott, Roberto, Jamie and I just looked at the six bodies on the ground. Without warning, Zach kicked the top one as hard as he could.

"There," He grunted, rubbing his shoulder. "I feel better now." Scott sighed in exasperation.

"Alright, everybody grab a bad guy."

"Storm said to bring these to you, Doctor. Apparently they were harassing our students." Hank looked up from his medical texts. Scott, Zach, and I were the only ones carrying bad guys, besides Jamie. Make that Jamies. Despite Scott's numerous warnings and frequent protesting, Sam and Roberto had goaded the poor kid into carrying their baggage as well.

"Heavy load?" Hank asked, one eyebrow raised at Sunspot.

"Not really," He grinned in return. "Just thought it'd be good to help out." All of the Jamies glared at him.

"Hmm. Well, why don't you guys go. The Professor will probably want to talk to you all about this. Zach, stay for a second a let me get that cut cleaned up."

"Jeez, it's fine! Just a scratch," My manic friend protested, but Hank gave him the no-nonsense-look and he obeyed. I left the room right behind Roberto, who was laughing about something with Sam, and I happened to turn around and look. Beast had pulled out what could easily have been a medieval spear, but was actually a syringe.

"Now this won't hurt a bit…"

ZACH'S P.O.V.

I rubbed my shoulder tenderly. Beast had been joking when he pulled out the needle, but not by much. Turned out I needed a couple of stitches, and those hurt like the blazes.

We were all assembled in the Professor's study. I was sitting on the edge of the table with Chang. Scott was pacing side to side behind me, Jean was watching him with an amused expression, Rogue was leaning against the wall sullenly, Kitty was lounging with her legs crossed in an armchair, and Kurt was sitting on the ceiling. Hank was running the rest of the new mutants through a Danger Room Sim, and Logan and Storm were no where to be found. The door opened and all of us looked up, including the Professor, who was watching all of us with a kind of studying gaze.

Cameron walked inside sheepishly.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all," Xavier said. "Please, sit down. We were expecting you." I let out an involuntary bark of laughter. Leave it to a telepath…

"So what's up, Professor? Some reason why we're all here?" Scott spoke up.

"Ja, I'm missing some quality grooming time."

"Like, ewww," Kitty snorted.

"I will cut right to the chase. As you all know, a group of armed men, who I have learned are part of the United States Government, attacked Sam and Zach today. No one was seriously hurt, except, well, them." I caught a definite smile on his face then, but he quickly hid it. "The reason they were here and driven to this type of behavior was unknown at the time, but after extensive probing, I believe I have learned the reason they are here." I sighed. Xavier could be really long winded when he wanted to be.

"Point?" Chang asked, more blunt than I could ever be.

"The point is, they were here for Cameron. And, based on what I found in their minds, I have reason to believe that you are hiding something from us." This last part was said with a penetrating stare at Deftone, who suddenly looked very nervous.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her lips moving soundlessly.

"I mean that there appears to be some sort of mental block inside of your head that I have not been able to get around since the events of this morning."

"Why are you looking around inside of my personal thoughts anyway?!" She demanded hotly. Xavier was not intimidated.

"Because two of my students were viciously attacked, and one superficially injured. Apparently, you had something to do with it." This last part was not really an idle speculation; it was more of a fact. I tried to read the expression on Cameron's face, but she had good practice keeping her emotions hidden. She gravitated from indignation to fear to nothing in less than a second.

"Well, I didn't." This simple statement was followed by her reaching for the doorknob.

"Please, Cameron. If this does have something to do with you, and you really do not know why, then you, too, are in danger. I would like you and the other girls to stay for a moment. Everyone else, you may go."

"But Professor!" I protested. "Cameron's like family to us. You can't just tell us to leave when she could be in trouble!" I clenched my fist.

"Zach, I understand your concerns, but you must trust my judgment in this case. Now, you all have had a busy day. I think you should get some rest." It was clear from his tone that this discussion was over. Cameron looked sullen, even more so than Rogue, who I had never seen smile about anything. Kitty gave me a kind of half-hearted wave, and I slapped myself mentally, remembering that we were supposed to have gone on a date tonight.

Ok, so secretly I was a little relieved that I didn't have to deal with it. But on the other hand, I was going to have to go up to Kitty tomorrow and ask for a rain check. Like my life wasn't hard enough with school in two days and a government agency trying to hunt one of my friends down.

So I was entitled to a little peace and quiet, right?

Wrong.

NO ONE'S P.O.V.

All was quiet on the grounds of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, as seen through the control room where Cutter and his superior watched with mixed feelings. Jeff Seales quietly and stealthily avoided all cameras and detectors, climbing from tree to tree until reaching the fuse-box that controlled the automated defense systems.

"It's magnificent, sir," Cutter breathed quietly, wondering how such a young specimen could infiltrate someplace not even a highly trained team of commando's had been able to. On the screen, the mutated boy was reconfiguring wires like a switchboard operator.

"Yes, it is," the superior officer agreed. "Soon, we'll have our second weapon, and with it, all the information we need…" He trailed off, watching as Jeff avoided more cameras until reaching the actual Institute. In the shadows, he looked more like a cat than anything, prowling on all fours until he finally saw the window he was supposed to get into and climbing, hand over hand over foot over foot over tail up the drainpipe. The window was open a crack, which would not have been wide enough for him to get his arm through, but was just enough to slip his tail into. After some careful maneuvering, the tip of the tail managed to unlock the window, and Jeff pushed it open, crawling inside. "Get the containment cell ready. He'll be able to get her out, but the rest of them will come looking for her. They won't be slowed down very long by the booby traps he's rewired, and with extra baggage, he'll be much slower. The camera zoomed in as Jeffrey crawled to the bed and pulled back the covers. The sleeping figure was obscured from view by the monkey-man's lanky frame, but it was clear that she did not notice, or move. There was no need to put a hand over her mouth to silence her.

All the careful research they'd done, the plan that had been put into effect nearly thirteen years ago, was now nearing its peak. After this, it was only a matter of time…

Jeffrey's tail had snaked around the girl's throat, and her eyes snapped open. She tried to struggle, but he had too firm a grip on her throat, and began dragging her towards the window. She could not scream for help, simply because of her abilities. As Jeff pulled himself through the window, the mission seemed finished.

Then the girl screamed………

ZACH'S P.O.V.

My bed bucked underneath me and I was thrown into the air, colliding with Chang and falling to the floor in a heap of rubble and I rubbed my head and opened my eyes blearily. My posters were hanging loosely on the wall, and all the pictures and knickknacks I'd kept on my dresser had fallen on to the floor. Small cracks had appeared in the plaster around our room.

"What the-?" Chang asked, looking around. His bed had completely flipped over and his mattress had fallen on top of him. I rushed to the door and opened it. I looked out at the hallway we shared with Kitty, Rogue, and Kurt. The paintings on the wall were now hanging somewhat crooked, and many of the plants that dotted the hall (Storm's work,) were overturned and spilling dirt onto the carpet.

"I think it's Cameron. Something's wrong!" I yelled, running back inside of our now demolished room. Chang had crawled out from underneath his mattress and was now watching me with interest. I opened my window while pulling on a pair of decent shorts, looking below me one floor and to the left. Chang leaned out the window beside of me.

"What do you mean, something's wrong with Cameron?" I pointed at the shadowy figure that seemed to be trying to yank something from Cameron's room.

"That." I turned to look at my tall friend. "Can you hit it from here?" Chang grinned and charged up his fist.

"I can sure try!" I leaned back slightly as a blast of pure electricity jumped through the air, barely missing the target and colliding with the wall behind it. The shadow, whatever it was, ducked back inside.

"Nice shootin, Tex. Come on!" And the next second I was racing down the hallway to the stairs that would bring us to Cameron's room.

By the time I got there, Kurt and Kitty had just arrived, and Chang was painting behind me. Here, the destruction was worse. The entire wall bowed towards, and the whole hallway was tilted at a weird angle. I charged my system full of adrenaline.

"Want me to blast it?" Chang asked off-handedly.

"If you would be so kind," I returned. He didn't have to. Right before he was about to blast the door, it opened quite suddenly, and something brown and furry shot out.

There was a moment of stunned silence at this new intruder. About five feet tall, I would guess, because it was hard to tell when he was crouching. He was covered in brown fur, save for a black tank top and spandex shorts. Behind him, a very long, very maneuverable tail whipped about. He struck me as an overgrown monkey.

Still in the room, Cameron was lying on the floor, rubbing her throat viciously. Her room looked like a disaster area. The walls had huge fissures in them, her ceiling fan wobbled at an impossible angle, and every piece of furniture had been turned into toothpicks.

That was all the time I had for reflective thought, because the next moment, the assailants tail, holding a broken chunk of wood, was flying towards me from the side. I ducked with inhuman (Duh.) speed, but Chang wasn't so lucky. The wood, which I can only assume was a piece of a chair at one point, struck him in the face and he slumped against the wall. He tried the same thing with Kitty and Kurt, who simple phased and teleported out of the way.

"Vhat is zis guy?" Kurt panted, reappearing beside of me.

"I don't know. But I hope he likes to dance!" I growled and threw a punch that connected with yielding flesh. The monkey scrambled backwards out of range, but I just dived at him and caught him full on. We rolled across the floor, punching and kicking, my body being assailed by numerous blows, and I'm sure we looked like a cartoon or something. Then, quite suddenly, I felt pressure on my chest as we rolled across the floor. He had somehow managed to get his feet underneath me! WHAM! I wobbled wildly through the hallway, totally airborne. I yelled out in terror, but then something wrapped around my ankle. 

In a moment that seemed frozen in time, I saw the monkey's tail grip my leg, yank me backwards and slam me into the wall. I hit the already severely fractured wall and went straight through, a shower of plaster and sawdust erupting around me. A loud screeching sound and a #BAMF# told me that Kurt was now fighting the intruder and I struggled to pick myself up to help. I was actually half in and half out of the wall, my legs hanging uselessly in the hallway.

When I finally managed to pull myself up enough to view the scene, there really wasn't all that much to see. There was a lot of smoke, screeching, and the distinctive smell that comes with teleporting. I tried to make out what was happening, but all I could see were shadows that kept changing places. It was, all in all, very confusing. That is, until Kurt reappeared right in front of me, looking around frantically.

"Vas za-?" he was stopped mid-sentence when two hands wrapped around his neck and flung him backwards. All I caught after that was a swishing sound and a stir of the smoke. Finally, the smoke cleared and I saw Kurt lying dazed on the other side of the hall, a large dent beside of him that was curiously head-shaped.

I didn't wait for Kurt to wake up, but took off in the direction that the Monkey (As I was now calling him in my mind,) ran. It was personal, now. No one, and I mean NO ONE, beat me on my own turf.

He may have been more agile, but he certainly wasn't faster, and I caught up with him soon. He was unfamiliar with the twisting turns of the Xavier mansion, and I eventually found him right in foyer, at the top of the giant staircase. He didn't slow down for a second, didn't make any move to turn and take the steps and go out the front door like anyone else would have, just leaped up on to the railing and launched himself onto one of the two chandeliers that dominated the ceiling of the Institute. Across from me, Scott had appeared with his visor and fired off a beam that narrowly missed Monkey and hit the wall beside of me.

"Check your fire, man!" I yelled, following after Monkey man, who had leaped from the chandelier onto the next one, dangling from the chain and swinging wildly. I abandoned any pretense of fear and hurdled, much less gracefully, onto the first chandelier. The rickety glass structure bucked and I nearly fell before gripping the thick chain that connected it to the ceiling. "You're not getting out of this situate that easily!" I called with a lot more confidence than I felt. Monkey man paused for a second, weighing his options. Me on one side, who was just itching for a tussle, and Cyclops on the other, who could blast him through a wall. Monkey's eyes glinted maliciously, and his lips curled into a grin, baring his sharpened canines. With a quick flick of his tail, one of the crystals from the chandelier was suddenly whizzing through the air, until it connected with, and punctured, Cyclops' visor. I stared in horror, fearing the worst, when a beam of red light exploded, the crystal vaporizing and the beam punching a hole through the ceiling. Cyclops ripped the visor off and closed his eyes.

The crystal had not penetrated enough to hurt Scott, but had just broken the visor enough to let his powers through. How had the Monkey known about Scott?! The Institute was supposed to be secret, no one but the Brotherhood knew of our powers, except for the Acolytes. Maybe the Professor was right, and Cameron was………

Stop it, Zach! I ordered myself. No time to think of that.

Monkey was hanging lazily from the chain on the chandelier as roof rained down around him. He wasn't even looking at me, but was looking through the hallway that led through the senior dorms. Below us, several of the younger kids had congregated. Dr. McCoy was there, too, trying his best to hold them back. Jean was no where in sight, and that meant that Monkey Man could easily get to the window at the end of the senior hall, because no one was there to stop him!

Time for me to do my thing, then.

I pumped myself up, slammed out my muscles with a speed I hadn't known I possessed, and rocketed through the air. My fist connected with the bad guy's stomach and we went sprawling out onto the landing in the other side.

It was like fighting a steel cable when we landed. His muscles were all working perfectly together, squeezing, pushing, hitting, crunching. I could do nothing except wait for an opening, but he wasn't giving me one. I couldn't tell if he was using an actual fighting style or not. It was more like wrestling with kickboxing mixed in.

Fortunately, I knew how to combat that. Logan was big martial arts freak. Said he used to live in Japan. Since I had only a physical mutation, and couldn't blast stuff with my eyes or shoot bones out of my arms or move things with my mind, Logan had taken my self-defense lessons into the Japan section of fighting. Capoiera. That's what I use. Think of it as lethal break-dancing.

I returned his attack, feet flying out at impossible angles and slamming into his jaw like wrecking balls. I spun around on the ground, throwing him off while leaping into a fighting stance. He landed easily on his feet (and hands,) with his tail thrashing behind him like a killer snake.

#BAMF#

Kurt appeared in his classic gargoyle pose on the opposite side of the intruder. Smoke curled around him before disappearing into nothingness.

"Now, Mr. Bad Man, vhy don't you just put your hands up, and ve'll take you down to ze Professor, ja?" Kurt asked in his own unique brand of English. The Monkey paused for a moment, and somehow, I knew exactly what he was going to do.

Unfortunately, I don't have Kurt's teleporting ability or I would've gotten the heck out of there.

Quick as a flash, the long brown tail wrapped around Kurt's throat in a choke hold. Before Kurt could try and get free, he was flying through the air towards me. I tried to dodge out of the way, but not even I was that fast. Kurt's helpless body slammed into me ("OOF!") and we hit the banister. Instantaneously, I heard wood splinter and break, and in the next split-second, we were falling towards the first level of the Mansion.

"AHHH!" I yelled.

"AHHH!" Kurt agreed. The floor was just about to meet us when #BAMF# my head seemed to spin on its shoulders, and #BAMF# we were back on the top floor, right where we had just fallen from.

"Nice save," I grumbled, rubbing my head where it had knocked against the floor.

"Ja," Kurt muttered from beside me. I lifted my head just enough to see the window at the end of the hallway, Monkey Dude's only way of escape, shattered.

"We just lost, didn't we?" I asked. "An entire mansion full of mutants with phenomenal super powers just lost to one half-man, half-monkey. Doesn't that seem pathetic to you?"

"Ja."

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Like, don't like? Jeff and Cameron are going to have a very big focus in the next few chapters, so be prepared for some twisting plot lines. By the way, Jeffrey Seales is the property of Jeff Hunter, and I in no way claim ownership, blah blah blah.

^Insert standard X-Men: Evolution Disclaimer here^


	5. Chasing Iscariot

Hey everyone. Sorry this took so long, but I was really stumped for ideas. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walked forward cautiously, one hand on my visor, the other in a closed fist.

"Nightcrawler, see anything?" I asked my blue friend. His eyes could see better in the dark than mine.

"Nada. Just an alleyvay."

"He's here." Jean blurted confidently. "I can sense him." Decision time. I glanced around the alleyway, taking in my surroundings. A couple of dumpsters, tons of broken bottles, trash, and maybe even a homeless person or two I couldn't see.

"Jean, go up top with Kurt. Shadowcat and Rogue, with me. Search the dumpsters first. Jean, try and get a lock on him, immobilize him or something." She nodded and used her TK to float out of my sight with Kurt.

"Like, what do we do when we find him?" Shadowcat questioned, phasing across some broken glass.

"I don't know. Rogue, can you drop him?" In answer to my question, Rogue rolled her eyes and removed a glove. "Good. Be ready. Shadowcat, open that first one." I trained my visor on the dumpster while Kitty pushed the lid open, ready to blast anything that popped out. Nothing. We continued this process with the other two dumpsters, but no large furry animal jumped out at us. I was almost disappointed.

"Jean, what's the deal?" Kitty called.

_I don't know,_ she replied in our minds. _He's definitely here somewhere…where could he be!_ She sounded angry with herself. I glanced upward to tell her not to worry, when I saw him.

The alley we were in was situated between two large brick buildings. Both were apartment complexes and had fire escapes. The furry bad guy was clinging to the underside of one like a scared rabbit.

"There!" I yelled and blasted at him with my visor. He screamed something unintelligible and dropped to the ground, a distance of twenty feet. After he landed, but before he could escape, I blasted him again, sending him skidding across the garbage-strewn alleyway into the side of the building. "Rogue, go!" She ran forward while Jean held him with her TK, his tail thrashing wildly.

"Say goodnight, fuzz-brain!" Rogue quipped and reached to take his face in her palm. 

"Please, don't hurt me!" He cried and she froze. He had yelled _in her voice_. "Please!" He cried again, this time as Jean. "Let me go!" He yelled, this time as me.

"Stuff it, buddy. Who are you, and what were you doing at the Institute?" I grabbed onto his shoulders and lifted him before pushing him against the wall.

"What? What are you talking about? I don't know anything! Please, let me go!" This time, his voice was like a normal kid, only slightly high and scratchier.

"Who are you!" I yelled, hand moving to my visor.

"Jeff! Jeff Seales!" He cried, afraid of what I could do. I saw a glint of real terror in his eyes, and I suddenly knew what I must look like. Some enraged psycho mutant, threatening someone weaker than me. I dropped him to the ground. "Please…I don't know what you're talking about. I just got here."

"Baloney!" Nightcrawler cried. "Less zhan an hour ago, you put my head through a vall!"

"No, there must be some mistake! I don't know anything about fighting, I-" He stopped suddenly and his ears pricked up, like he was listening to something. I looked around for the cause.

"What? What is it?" Jean asked. A second later, his eyes lost all signs of life, and he lashed out, fists nailing me in the chest, tailing going around Rogue's leg, and eyes darting upwards for an escape route. I fell backwards onto the ground, barely seeing Rogue reach down to grasp his tail off her leg. He pulled it out from under her and she flipped into the air, reached out to grab something for support, and ended up touching Jean. _With no gloves._

The effect was instantaneous. Jean dropped like a stone to the ground beside me, unconscious. Nightcrawler teleported out of the way as Jeff's tail swung around like a club, but Kitty wasn't fast enough. The tail hit her in the face and she spun around from the force, a bizarre mockery of a dradel, before hitting the ground.

I shot at him, but he was already gone, scrabbling up the fire escape wildly.

"Nightcrawler!" I yelled.

"Right-o, fearless leader!" #BAMF#

KURT'S P.O.V.

"Hey, stop!" Oh, that did a lot of good. He bared his teeth at me, sparing me a backward glance before vaulting the distance to the next rooftop. I breathed a sigh of annoyance and followed, not daring to look down.

I knew we could be seen, the police could get involved, heck, even the guys who'd attacked the Institute earlier could get involved.

Right now, I was trying not to think of that. I was trying to think of how we were going to stop Jeff. Rogue was back there, already too far away for me to teleport, and Jean was unconscious. Maybe I could make him dizzy enough from the teleporting he'd pass out.

What bothered me the most was what Jeff was like back in the alley. He'd seemed almost human for a second. I pushed such thoughts out of my mind. Best to stay focused on the task at hand.

Jeff's tail, seemingly like an extra hand, wrapped around a large chunk of rock and tossed it at me in mid-leap. I teleported out of harm's way, reappearing in front of Jeff, who skidded to a stop.

"Jeff, stop!" He shrieked something unintelligible at me by way of response. He took a right turn and dived head first off the side of the building, nearly four stories! I groaned before following, teleporting to the ground before Jeff landed.

I had to admire his skill, as one acrobat to another. He flipped into an expert tuck and landed gracefully on all fours. He bared his fangs, screeched something menacing, and dropped _down_. I hadn't seen it, but his tail had pulled the cover off of a manhole and that was where he had went to. I followed. 

"Listen, ve don't vant to hurt you!" I cried, remembering with guilt both Scott blasting him against the wall and Zach tackling him headlong through the hallway. My eyes quickly adjusted to the gloom and I could see a retreating figure with a long whip-like tail disappear down the tunnel. I scrambled up the side of the wall and followed, sure that I wasn't going to let him get the drop on me. I was getting closer. He kept checking over his back to see if I was still behind him, and when he couldn't see me, he stopped running. I silently thanked my mutant abilities, both wall-climbing and shadow-slouching while I watched his ears prick up to try and hear me.

I teleported onto his back, gripped his shoulders hard, and teleported again. Not far, just enough to disorient him. We splashed down into the water as he struggled to free himself.

"Wait, wait! Quit hurting me!" He yelled.

"You're coming vis me!" I growled.

"Fine, let me go!" I complied, slowly loosening my grip on his wet fur. I'm sure we both looked like drowned rats, hair clinging to our bodies and stinking horribly like sewer. He wiped some gunk from his eyes before looking around. "Where'd the rest go?"

"Are you serious?" I was understandably incredulous. Here was a guy who had escaped, led me on a rooftop chase and then through the sewers far away from my friends. "Ve left zem. After you hit Cyke and threw Rogue."

"What are you talking about?" He seemed to notice me for the first time. "Hey…you have a tail too?"

"Uh…yeah. Vhy are you looking at me like zat?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry. I've never seen anyone else with a tail, before just now. Not to mention fur."

"Vat about back at ze Mansion? You saw Beast." I accused.

"What mansion? What are you talking about now?" Something wasn't adding up here. It was like he didn't even remember what had happened tonight! I opened my mouth to explain when I heard voices.

"Remy don' tink dat dis is a good idea."

"Me neither, mate, but the boss says we gotta keep looking through these sewers till we find ourselves a buggered spiked kid." I recognized the voices, after some thought. Gambit and Pyro. The Acolytes!

"Ve haff to get out of here!" Jeff looked at me like I was nuts.

"Well, obviously, but what's the rush?"

"No time to explain! Hold on!" I reached out to grab his hand and teleport us both topside when I froze. I had no idea what was above us! I could take us through a wall or a ceiling! "Are you afraid of heights?" I asked quickly, but before he could answer, the Acolytes found us.

A single flaming card hit the water beside of me and sank low. I didn't have to register what it meant before it exploded and Jeff and I were thrown apart, water erupting and splashing everywhere.

"Pyro, grab de furry one!" Gambit shouted.

"Which one, mate?" The Aussie was looking at us both in bewilderment.

"De one wit de tail!" More puzzled staring.

"De blue one!" That settled it. Pyro lit his torches before I could move. I had no time to save Jeff. No time to attack.

I teleported.

I wasn't sure what was above me, like I said before, so I simply went as high as I could, materializing several hundred feet in the air. I looked down, found the distance to the building and teleported again, this time landing on the rooftop of the nearest structure. I slumped against a large metal vent, exhaustion creeping up on me from my exertions.

No! I had to contact Jean. If the Acolytes had Jeff, there was no telling what they would do to him. I don't know why I cared. Something in the confused look I saw in Jeff's eyes had made me feel…something. Something very close to sympathy.

With all the strength I had left, I called out in my mind for the Professor.

ZACH'S P.O.V.

"Freak." The word was spat at me, but I let it brush past. No anger. Not now.

I was in the medical ward, standing beside one of the hospital beds that one of the men had been chained to. He was unable to move, and this was the closest thing we had to a prison.

"What do you want with Cameron?" I questioned, slowly, steadily.

"Back off, kid. You'll get nothing from me." I tried again.

"Tell me."

"I don't have that information!" Ah, that was bit closer. This man would break, I knew it. I could feel it. I stood up and walked to the corner of the room, knowing the soldier was watching me. I grabbed a cart loaded with a boxy structure and what looked like two irons. I wheeled the cart to the side of his bed.

"Do you know what this is?" I asked quietly. "It's a defibrillator. It works by using electric shocks to jumpstart your nervous system. It hurts like you wouldn't believe." The man glared at me.

"You can't do anything. You're just a kid. If you were trying to hurt me, your precious Xavier would throw you out!" I nodded quietly.

"Maybe. But what if there were an emergency? What if your heart-" Here I made a point of reaching over to the monitor that kept tabs on his pulse, "-stopped?" I gripped a small cord that fed in, the cord that was connected to the small pads placed on his chest. I couldn't actually hurt the man; he was defenseless.

But this guy didn't know that. He was afraid of mutants. He thought we were just cruel and heartless beasts. A small part of me felt a pang of guilt for proving him right.

But it was a very small part.

"It's only my job!" There was a real fear in his eyes. Fear of me. It touched two small chords deep within me, one striking my sympathy, the other my excitement. My bloodlust.

"Why does your job involve Cameron? " I asked calmly.

And for what seemed like a long time, he told me. He told me everything he knew, everything that only Xavier, with his mental probing and manipulation, had been able to divulge. After he had finished, I stood up, pushed the defibrillator back into the corner and left the med bay with no other words.

Knock. Knock.

The sound was hollow, and when Cameron opened the door, the look in her eyes echoed it.

"You lied." I didn't accuse. I didn't question. I just told her. "You lied to all of us. Why didn't you tell us that you were a spy?"

Her eyes fell and she shifted her feet nervously.

"I wasn't supposed to."

"I understand. I'm not happy, but I understand." I left just as quickly as I had come. All the pieces fit together now. Cameron was sent here by her organization to spy on us. Of course, when she developed mutant powers, it was only logical. What better way to place a spy in a facility full of mutants?

And she was taking drugs that blocked certain telepaths from entering explicit parts of her mind. Those were the pills I had seen her take once, the ones she passed off as aspirin. She was hiding from Xavier. Hiding the truth.

And when our government found out about her, who she worked for, and the information she possessed on the 'mutant threat,' it was only logical to come and get her.

The whole plan was logical. Until the Monkey came in.

What was his deal? Who did he work for? Was he with some anti-mutant group, the Acolytes, the Brotherhood, our government, maybe even Cameron's agency trying to cover their tracks?

It was too much to take. Too much information. I felt exposed. Somewhere on the other side of the pond, in the land down under, other people were looking at personal files on me. Of the things I did.

"Zach Kastens. Says here he chews gum all the time. Maybe that's a side effect of his mutation? Is it dangerous? Has he completely evolved? Look at this Robert Drake…" I could almost hear them in my head.

I wandered the halls aimlessly for a while before I found myself standing in the locker room in front of a glass case that held my uniform.

I needed answers.

Answers that only the monkey could give me.

The door slid open suddenly and a laughing Chang and Bobby entered.

"Hey, man, what are you doing here?" Iceman asked. I glanced back at the suit, then pressed the button to open the container.

"Are you guys up for a mission?" I replied, grinning.

We had found out where the Monkey was from the Professor, who was informing Beast and we just 'happened' to eavesdrop. We also found out his name was Jeff Seales, and was very confused about something. I didn't catch much else; after we found out that info, I headed towards Scott's car, hotwired the ignition with some fancy frying from Chang, and then we were speeding towards the sewer.

"Do you happen to have a plan?" Bobby asked from the passenger's seat. We had played Rock, Paper, Scissors for driver and he was still pouting.

"Yeah. Find that Jeff guy and beat the living tar out of him till he tells us why he was going after Cameron."

"Ok, good base plan. Might I suggest working on some of the details? Such as: MAGNETO!" Bobby glared at me. "Not to mention the rest of those Acolytes. They're totally bad news."

"Relax. The X-men will probably be fighting them. All we'll have to do is sneak in, find out where Jeff is and interrogate him. Easy."

"Ever notice anytime someone says something will be easy, most of us end up running for our lives?" Chang asked from the backseat.

"Quiet, dude. You'll jinx us."

"Do you suppose this is it?" I asked. Bobby shot me a 'duh' look. We had followed the Professor's somewhat skeletal instructions, and were now at what appeared to be a very large door. Or, rather, what _used_ to be a very large door, before someone with optic blasts tore it up.

"Well, in we go, eh?" Chang rubbed his hands together rather nonchalantly and a couple of sparks went up.

"Right. Into the belly of the beast." We carefully stepped over the wreckage of the door and carefully walked down the rubble strewn hallway, lights flickering at random overhead. I pumped myself up, literally. If we had to fight, I was going to be ready. We came to a fork in the hall after walking for about ten minutes. One was a set of stairs that led up; the other a hallway leading to the right.

"Take the stairs." I decided. We did. After a few seconds of walking, there was a thunderous explosion from somewhere above us.

"Holy!"

"Woah!"

"Let's go!" I yelled, and we dashed up the steps as fast as possible, not caring how much trouble we'd be in if we were caught. If the X-men were getting stomped, we _ had_ to help! We reached the climax of the staircase soon enough and emerged into a large circular room.

The battle raged before us. Nightcrawler was down, unconscious, while Scott and Jean battled with Sabertooth. Rogue must've absorbed Colossus' powers, because she was wearing what looked like a living suit of armor while fighting him with Kitty.

Pyro was nowhere to be seen, nor was Magneto and Mesmero.

"Bobby!" I yelled, pointing at Colossus. "Freeze him!"

"Right!" He iced up and shot a beam of energy out of his palms. Colossus stopped in his tracks, feet welded to the floor in blocks of frozen liquid. Rogue took the opportunity to slam her metal fist into his stomach and then his head.

He dropped under the fusillade of blows now directed at him, unconscious. He reverted back to normal form as he slipped out of earthly awareness into sleep. Now, on to Sabertooth. I had never been fully told of the extent of his powers, but I knew he was pretty much Wolverine with a lot more hair and a nastier temper. He had a healing factor, and every time Scott would bowl him over with an optic blast, he would simply get right back up.

The only way out I could see was get him unconscious. Jean was apparently thinking along those same lines.

Sabertooth suddenly slumped over for no reason, but I saw. Jean was standing with her fingers pressed to her temples, a look of supreme concentration on her face, one hand outstretched towards the hairy Acolyte.

Cyclops was breathing heavily, doubled over from his exertions. There were some slight rips in the shoulder of his suit, where Sabertooth had clawed him. He finally noticed us and fixed us with a glare that couldn't have been more deadly, even if he had taken his visor off.

"What are you three doing here?" He snapped back into leader mode, back straight, voice rigid.

"Came to get Jeff," Chang responded. "You know, Monkey Man."

"Did the Professor send you?" I kind've shrugged at that and shifted my feet from side to side.

"Technically, no. But really, the Professor may have been using reverse psychology and-"

"Uh-huh," Rogue interrupted. "Does anyone else want an excuse that doesn't involve a load of bull?" She was back to regular Rogue now; Colossus' powers seemed to have worn off.

"Look, I found out why the men were after Cameron. We came because we wanted to find out why this Jeff guy was after her," I grated.

"Scott, the more time we waste arguing, the more time Magneto has to torture Jeff," Jean prodded gently.

"You're right." He glared at us. "You three, get Nightcrawler and follow those steps," he ordered, pointing to the right at another staircase. "The rest of us will fan out and try to find Jeff or Magneto through these. Anybody sees anything, contact the rest of us with the communicators. Especially the new guys."

"Yeah, yeah, boss," Chang grumbled, picking Kurt up and hauling him over his shoulder. "We'll be good."

After several minutes of nervous walking, Kurt woke up. I felt much more at ease then, considering if we got into any real trouble Nightcrawler could 'port us out. After several more minutes of twisting paths and staircases, ("Who built this place?! M.C. Escher?!"), we found a room that required an entry code. Somewhere inside, I could hear yelling.

"Zhat's got to be Jeff," Kurt muttered, running his fingers over the surface of the door. "I recognize his voice."

"Can you teleport us in?" I asked.

"No. I have to see vhere I am going. Ozzervise I might end up inside of a vall or even ze floor."

"Right, ok. So we need to open this door." Chang cracked his fingers and charged up his fists, a huge grin on his face. He was just about to blast it open when Kurt's communicator crackled to life.

"Anyone! This is Kitty. We like, found Magneto and he's got us cornered! Help! Hur-" The communicator went dead. Everyone looked to Bobby, our unofficial leader.

"Kurt? Is there anyone else inside that room?" Kurt shook his head. "Ok. Zach, stay here, get the door open and get Jeff out as soon as possible. Go back the way we came in, all right? Don't stop for anything. Got it?" I nodded to show I understood. "Good. Everyone else, come on!" And they took off running the way we had come.

I stared at the control panel for a second. It was a fingerprint and retinal scan. It could easily have been fooled by Mystique or some other shape shifter, but for me it was impossible to deceive. So, after a few seconds of scrutiny, I found a seam in the box and ever-so-gently pulled the device apart.

Inside was a computer chip, like all door codes do. I hadn't seen one like this before, and to be honest, I haven't really looked at a lot of others, so I was pretty much clueless. I grabbed a couple of the wires that ran from the actual scanner to the small chip, and began sparking them in random spots.

"Come on, you stupid…" I growled, continuing my work. "Open!" I jammed all the wires down at once. The chip exploded in a flash of fire and the door slid open. I smiled, waving smoke away from my face. "See? I'm great with technology."

I stepped through to find a large room dominated by a glass wall. There were computer consoles scattered around, and the entire room looked like something out of NASA. I noted some of the containers on the walls that looked like acetylene cylinders but were marked with strange symbols.

I followed the tangle or pipes and wires that led from the computer and the bottles to the glass wall. Beyond the wall was a room; a cage. Lying on the floor of the cage was…

"CAMERON!" I screamed.

Panic was etched on her face. A computerized voice belted out a series of names and ratios before stating that "Gaseous decompression" was beginning.

I rushed forward to the computers, praying I could have more luck with them than with the door outside… 

NA NA NA! All right, finally, a new chapter up! Don't worry, the next one will be much faster. For all you out there, check out anything written by everyone-was-doin-it or Jeff John the Rotiart. Peace out, this is Zakonius, and reviews are appreciated and used to feed wild animals.


	6. Saving the Monkey

"Cameron!" I screamed, hitting computer keys like mad. Why couldn't I get to her?! Why couldn't I open the locks! "Come on, Camshaft, don't you die on me!" I pulled switches, levers anything. There was no way I could get inside of the room. All I could do was watch as she slowly died from the poisonous gasses that were threading their way through her system and gradually decompressing her, turning her into something that, for all intents and purposes, was a piece of writing paper.

The computer began beeping at me. ACCESS REVOKED. ACCESS REVOKED. A large booming voice began to yell at me. Where was Kitty! She could have gotten into the room and brought Cameron out easily.

Screw it.

I opened my palm and jammed a fist straight through the computer, shards of the screen shattering and cutting into my skin. Sparks flew and singed my hair. I ignored the pain. Nothing was happening. The glass door wasn't opening, and the gasses were still pumping in. That left me with one option.

Inside, Cameron was on the ground, screaming, twitching violently. I knew she was fighting it, but her powers would do her no good. I backed up, slapped my hands together to psyche myself up, and then launched myself at the window, feet first.

I kicked out right before I hit, and felt resistance, but then it gave, and I could hear screaming now. What? How was she screaming? She couldn't make a sound, much less scream…There was no time for that! I fell down and hit the ground, winded. Weird. I'd never been winded before, not even from taking one in the chest from a DR simulation of Blob…

She was looking at me now, gasping for the small amount of air that was equalizing with the gas. I tried to hold my breath, running towards her and scooping her up in my arms. She had stopped screaming and was now clutching onto me. She was heavy.

Weird…I knew for a fact that she didn't weigh very much. I had carried her lots of times before, in Danger Room sessions, and I never felt like she was _heavy._ Maybe my muscles weren't working right. Maybe the gasses were messing with my mutation and the adrenaline wasn't pumping as fast as normal. Yeah, that had to be it.

I stumbled out of the room, tripping over a jagged piece of glass rising from the floor, but regained my balance before I hit. I glanced down to look at Cameron, only to see she was no longer Cameron…

She was Mystique.

"Surprised?" She asked coyly, her voice echoing roughly. She sounded vaguely like a synthesizer.

"You have no idea," I growled, dropping her and jumping away. What was Mystique doing here? She shouldn't be here…not with Magneto! She should be with the Brotherhood or some other misfit mutants!

"Don't be so uptight, my little X-man. Your friend is safe at Xavier's. You have managed to stop her from being captured by the United States…Government." This last word was spat out with such force that I instinctively moved back. "But, you young fool, you've managed to lead an entire squadron of them straight to this hideout."

"You'll be dead before they get here," I snarled, knowing that my words were a lie, that I really could never kill anyone.

"You think so? And who would do it?" She stepped to the right and ran a hand carefully over the jagged screen of the console that I had smashed earlier. "You?" Her eyes drifted to the glass behind me that lay shattered all over the floor, then to my biceps which were bulging against the material of my suit. "Fine. You'll have your chance. But, let's take this fight someplace less…toxic," She motioned to the broken room and the gas still flowing within with one hand, the other rubbing her backside in mock pain. I nodded, then reached quickly for my communicator, only to find it…missing! "Looking for this?" Mystique was holding it in between two fingers. I snarled again, but she just closed her fist on the small piece of radio technology and crushed it. She made her way over to the door, reached for the key panel only to find it was fried. She frowned, then stepped through the open door. She turned to me when I didn't follow. "Are you just going to stand there, or do you want to find your fuzzy friend?" She taunted. Oh, how I hated her.

"Let's do this," I snarled, curling my fists up.

"Well?" I finally asked. All she had done for the past ten minutes was stand there, like she was waiting for me to make the first move. Of course, I wasn't that stupid. Logan had always said that when you don't know your enemy, let them reveal their weaknesses. I didn't especially like the guy, but he knew his stuff. She smiled. "Aren't you going to fight me?" I asked, confused now.

"Actually, I was. Now, I think I'm just going to let him handle you," She replied, pointing over my shoulder. I heard the door slide open and turned to look. Sabertooth walked through the door, hulking and looking incredibly angry, world bearing a startling resemblance to Death Unleashed. Understandable, since the last time he'd seen me he'd been psychically anesthetized. There was a slight tearing sound, bone on skin, and I saw his claws glint maliciously. He had cut his palms with his own claws; the pain gave him a sort of sadistic pleasure. "Bye-bye! You two play nice!" She grinned malevolently and was gone through the door before I could do anything to stop her. After all, I had a very angry mutant in my way.

Once, Scott and I watched Wolverine and Sabertooth fight. Ok, so the Sabertooth in that situation was a Danger Room sim, but it was still scary, none the less. The speed of the fight was so intense I could barely track it, the brutality so gory I couldn't watch. See, Sabertooth was a triple-threat: He was strong, he was fast, and he was big. I swallowed my fear, and in the least-quavering voice I could muster, burst out.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" Bad move. Sabertooth threw back his head and roared. I felt my insides turn to jelly. The next second, he was in the air, coming down on me with the speed of a tiger, and my training took over. I hit the ground, rolled to the side, flipped back into the air and landed in a crouch as he hit the ground where I was just standing in a similar position.

"Well, well, well. Maybe this little X-man might be fun to play with…More fun than your long-tailed monkey pet!" He taunted, snarling. I snarled right back, matching his anger pitch for pitch.

"You have no idea how much fun!" I leaped at him, fist extended, my clutched fingers slamming into his jaw and causing him to double back. "Now are you going to let me go, or am I going to have to take you to the litterbox?" I threatened. Oh so carefully, Sabertooth wiped a speck of blood from his mouth, examining it.

"All right, twerp. Let's dance." The next thing I knew, I was flying backwards across the floor, body screaming in pain, slamming into the wall and watching stars dance across the room.

"Nice. Didn't know you could rumba," I growled, flipping up onto my feet and readying myself, fists up. Man, did I have the wrong idea or what? I was enveloped in a mass of hair and sharp objects, pulsating skin, and throbbing blood. With a shock, I realized, _that was MY blood!_

Something that felt like steel cable gripped my neck and I was lifted into the air. I kicked out with my feet, but connected only with nothingness. Sabertooth grinned maniacally, holding me off of the ground, choking the life out of me.

"Time to die, X-man. We'll see just how funny you really are!" My vision began to cloud over. I pulled at his fingers with my hands, trying to loosen his grip; trying to breathe…My powers were going wild. I was expelling clouds of hormones and water all over the place, but they were just pooling uselessly on the ground.

Tck…Tck…

What was that sound? Through mostly-black vision, I saw the long hairs on Sabertooth's arm stand straight up. Of course…static electricity. I smiled on the inside; I didn't have much control of my face at this point.

"Put him down, Fur-ball!" A strong, angry voice yelled. We both barely had time to look in the direction of the voice, when-

Tck…Tck…Tck-KOOM! A flash of light dazzled the both of us, the same time as a jolt of static electricity coursed through my body, giving me the unpleasant sensation of grabbing a power line with my teeth. The fingers instantly released me and I hit the floor, water splashing up around me that smelled like frying oil and sweat. I coughed, rubbing my sore neck, trying to soak the liquids back into my body as fast as I knew how.

Chang stood in the doorway, smoke billowing out of his nostrils, hands up, fingers outstretched, electricity snapping and arcing across his forearms. He really _did_ look like a dragon. Sabertooth lay in a heap on the floor, some six feet away, with the stench of burned fur rising off of him. After a couple of seconds, the shaggy mass began to stir.

"I don't think we're out of the woods yet," I quipped, rising up, all blood and other biological fluids back inside of my body and pumping through my veins at maximum speed.

"I think someone needs to tell this ferocious feline not to play with fire," Chang joked.

"Let him have it, dude!" I ordered, ducking out of the way. A heat wave enveloped me as a jet of fire streamed through the air, lighting Sabertooth and turning him into human-well, semi-human- tiki torch. Yowls and screams filled the room, echoing and reverberating till they hurt our ears and we ran for the door, leaving the flaming villain behind us.

"That was so cool!" Chang pumped one fist into the air and I nodded in agreement.

"By the way, nice save back there with the Mortal Kombat impression. You totally went all Raiden on him."

"Yeah, thanks. Hey, we found Jeff. They've got him back on the X-jet." He jerked a thumb to show me the way out. I nodded, suddenly ashamed at how stupid I'd been to think that Cameron could have been here. As soon as I'd walked into the room, I should have known. After all, we had heard voices, and Cameron couldn't speak.

"Did you take care of the Acolytes?" He nodded this time.

"Yeah. Bobby and I got Pyro when we took off to help the others. Iceman did this thing where he froze his flamethrowers…" Chang kept babbling while we ran for the exit.

"Going somewhere, boys?" The gruff voice was followed by about fifty different clicking sounds. I knew what that sound was: guns being cocked. 

Slowly, ever so slowly, we turned to face the voice, identical expressions of surprise on our faces. The entire hallway was filled with armed men, covered in camouflage fatigues and packing more heat than either of us was prepared to deal with. 

Several thoughts went through my mind. Lots of them involved swearing, others involved soiling myself, and still others involved _not_ swearing or soiling myself. Out of the corner of his mouth, very quietly, Chang whispered,

"You don't happen to have a plan, do you?"

"Give me three seconds," I whispered back. I glanced up quickly, behind me to the doors, took in the walls, and the rest of the men. "Ok, now I have a plan. Next word he says, flame them all. Just for cover, don't actually hurt any of them too much," I explained. Chang nodded, tightening his fist and swallowing hard.

"Why don't you-" The man began, but he got nothing else out. Chang opened his mouth and a torrent of fire screamed through the hall, bringing the men to fall backwards out of the way. I leaped straight up, crunching through the ceiling and on to the second floor.

"Oh, man!" I groaned, clutching my head. That had hurt a lot more than I had expected. "I should invest in a helmet." Below me, there was the now-familiar ticking of electricity, then the screams of men and the explosions of firearms. "Chang!"

I threw myself down, my torso hanging through the hole I had made.

"Yo, Chang! Grab my hands, I'll pull you up!" A few seconds later, strong arms grabbed mine. I pushed my legs underneath me, trying to pull up.

"Hurry up, they're shooting at my legs down here!" He screamed.

"You want out of this yourself? Shut up and let me work!" I screamed right back, pulling him up with a tremendous burst of strength. We tumbled backwards down the hallway on the second floor.

"Ok," Chang stood up, dusting himself off. I could still hear bullets whizzing below us. "There's got to be a window or something here, doesn't there?" I pointed upwards.

"There'll probably be a helipad. These guys have to get around somehow, right? A chopper is pretty much the only way in for them." He raised one eyebrow skeptically.

"Doesn't Mags do that weird metal ball thing? And besides, can you fly a helicopter?" I chose not to answer and started running down the hallway. "Hey! Hey, don't play with me, can you fly a helicopter!" He had no choice but to follow.

I slammed against the door, only to find it was locked. It was large, very large, and one of Magneto's fancy sliding doors, with a key panel and everything.

"You don't happen to have the code for this door, do you?" I asked wearily, not ready to repeat my earlier scene with the keypad at Mystique's 'prison.' Chang grinned.

"Yeah, actually. Stand back!" He rubbed his hands together, sparks flying between them.

"That's not what I-!" I began before I ducked, feeling the hairs on my neck stand straight up and the door blow backwards. I glared at him and he snapped his fingers, winking at me.

"It's open now."

"I could have rewired it, genius! That way we wouldn't have had to alert every stinking commando in the building!" I grated, pushing aside the remains of the mangled door. Ok, so my 'rewiring' wouldn't have been as effective and would've taken longer, but…

"This was much faster."

"And much louder!" I yelled, helping guide him through the smoke-filled doorway. "Look, there's the helicopter," I pointed. "Let's try and find the flight manual," I advised, opening one of the doors and making my way inside. Chang followed my lead, looking under the seats until we found a very, very thick book.

"You want to read _all_ of this?!" He asked, lugging what I at first thought was a suitcase up into view.

"Just read 'Take off' and 'Basic Flight,' to me," I instructed, looking through the Table of Contents.

"Wait! Parachutes," He reminded me.

"Oh yeah. If I screw up, and I probably will…" I let it hang. Chang just rolled his eyes and strapped himself in. I laughed to myself to cover up my nervousness and reached for a parachute.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Chang screamed in my ear as we spiraled out across the city.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled back, fighting with the joystick, trying to gain some semblance of control. No use.

"Oh, man! We are so dead!" He thrust his head into his hands and began muttering a Chinese prayer. I flicked a couple of switches, killing the propellers.

"We have to jump!" I grabbed his shoulder, standing up. Easier said than done. The helicopter's cockpit was spinning so violently I was thrown into the air in a free-fall. Chang had been vacuumed to his seat and was trying to push himself out. I slammed into the back of the helicopter, reaching desperately for the sliding door. It was just inches away! I strained, begging it to come closer, but to no avail. I wasn't Jean; I couldn't move it with my mind.

"Oh, to heck with this!" Chang finally gave up pushing against the seat and raised his hands, placing them on the windshield in front of him.

"Chang, no!" I cried, but too late! He forced an electricity surge through his palms, shattering the glass and making all of the air rush out of the cabin. I was suddenly sucked from my position at the back of the copter forward out the window. Chang had already gone before me; now he was just a swirling speck high above me.

I made it out, spinning in midair, watching the shrieking mass of the helicopter fall below me. I groped on my parachute for the rip-cord, hoping against hope that I was wearing it correctly, found it and closed my hand around, yanking with all my strength.

There was a second that nothing happened, and time seemed to stop. Then, the parachute opened, and I was jerked backwards. Major whiplash. That was when Chang went screeching past me, arms flailing. A second later, his unopened parachute followed. I couldn't breathe. Chang was going to die! Because of me!

No!

I started pulling loose cords until one of them worked and the parachute detached from my back. That's when I realized that, on the off chance I could grab onto the parachute _and_ Chang, then open it in a freefall speeding towards earth, there was probably no way we could both be supported by its weight. When I remembered all this, I tried to grab back onto the harness, but I was already too far gone. The parachute was floating away and I was once again a human missile.

We've never covered BASE jumping in training. I'm sure Logan was going to eventually, but he hadn't got to it yet. Plus, this wasn't exactly something I learned in Gym at my old school. So I was basically going off of my knowledge of old movies and World's Craziest Stunts.

I spread my legs and arms, trying to give me more surface area and slow me down before appreciating the fact that if we were too low, there wouldn't be near enough time for us to slow down and we would both be seriously damaged. So I flattened out and aimed for the speeding pack, wind whipping past me and stinging my eyes. Right now, with my guts being flattened to my bones and my skin pulling against itself, fighting Sabertooth again seemed almost bearable.

I reached the parachute pack in less than three seconds from when I had gotten control of my flight. I couldn't see it very well; my eyes kept shutting themselves because they were tearing up. I had to rely on memory, reaching out one hand and groping blindly in the air.

I was very lucky, grabbing one of the loose straps and pulling it towards me, tucking into a cannonball position.

"Chang!" I yelled, but the sound was lost even to my own ears. I saw him below me, almost a hundred feet. I straightened out, feet first, closing the gap surprisingly fast, keeping a firm grip on the parachute. I maneuvered a little, landing right on top of his back, an insane skateboarder using his friend as a surfboard. He turned to see me over his shoulder and I caught his eye. The look on his face wasn't one of terror; it was of frustration.

It scared me.

I switched positions, grabbing onto his uniform and bringing myself close to his ear.

"You have to grab onto me really tight, ok!" He nodded and wrapped me up in a bear hug. We maneuvered in mid-air like that for a little bit, the voice in the back of my head telling me that every second I thought was a second we were closer to the ground. I pumped a bunch of adrenaline into my fists, stiffening the fingers until they were rock-hard and I couldn't unclench them. With my free hand, I grabbed the rip-cord. "Time to rock!" I yelled to reassure myself, yanking the cord with my hand.

My arm nearly ripped out of its socket. I actually heard something tear, followed by incredible pain. I had no more control over my arm, but it kept its grip. We swayed dangerously for a few seconds until we finally stabilized, floating towards the ground much faster than I wanted.

"Let's never, ever speak of this again," Chang said, suddenly realizing how close we were.

"Hey, we were dying. People will understand," I joked. He laughed.

"All right. But if anyone asks, _I _saved _you_."

"What were you thinking?!" Scott yelled, practically ripping his hair out. Chang and I winced identically.

"Um…before we followed you when you expressly told us not to, or before we stole Magneto's chopper?" Chang asked guardedly. Scott practically turned red. I could tell it was taking all of his self-control not to throw off his glasses and blast us both. I gripped my chair grimacing.

After out little stunt, we had eventually made our way back to the Institute, avoiding normal humans and me complaining of the pain in my arm, only to find a furious Scott and a less furious-but disappointed- Professor X. Now we were in the Professor's study, being yelled at extensively by that same angry Scott while Professor X watched.

"I can't believe that you followed us when I ordered you not to! You could have been killed, you could have been tortured, and you could have been captured! Then we would've came and had to rescue your sorry butts!" Surprisingly Chang got angry at this.

"Hey, we were just fine on our own! And I don't remember you complaining when Bobby and I jumped in to save you from that Australian Barbecue!" A small stream of smoke issued from his mouth as he said this, a sure sign of his anger. Scott turned beet red and looked at the Professor and Wolverine, who were both taking in this exchange with a mixture of anger and disappointment. Scott yelled in frustration and stormed out of the room.

"You know that saying, 'Don't bite the hand that feeds you?'" I asked. Chang merely nodded. I glanced out the door at Scott's retreating back. "I think we just did."

"You are quite right, Zach. I think," the Professor said, crossing his fingers in that seriously unnerving way of his, "that I shall have to reevaluate your status on the X-men combat team. As it is, you will be barred from all missions for the next month. After that, we shall have to see how things go." After giving us his patented, 'I'm very disappointed in you,' look, he wheeled out of the room, followed by Logan.

"What he means is," Wolverine quickly glanced to make sure he was out of earshot. "Good job." I grinned and when Logan left, I high-fived Chang.

"Oh yeah. We still got it!" My Chinese friend joked.

I held my breath and knocked twice. There was no response, but the voices on the other side of the door quieted down momentarily.

"Kitty? It's me, Zach. Can I come in?" There was a rustling sound. I was about to give up when the door opened and a very disgruntled Rogue was shoved out by a very nervous Kitty. I couldn't help but just stand there and take her in.

She was so beautiful.

After a few seconds, she fidgeted and motioned inside.

"So, like, come in, I guess?" I stepped inside her room and she shut the door. Weird to be this uncomfortable. I could see the very, _very _distinct line that was drawn between the two halves of the room. One side, with fluffy quilts, stuffed animals, and Hello Kitty posters; the other with death metal, chokers, chains, and black sheets. I shuddered involuntarily. Kitty offered me a seat on the bed, patting the area beside her as she sat down.

I took a deep breath and launched into my excuse.

"Listen, I know we had a date tonight and I'm really sorry I missed it and it won't happen again so can we please reschedule for tomorrow?" She didn't say anything for a second, but then I caught a flirty grin on her lips.

"Oh, duh! I wasn't here either, you goof!" I blushed.

"Yeah, I know, but I always seem to screw these kinds of things up; I didn't want you to think it was an indication of how our relationship was going to be." I mentally slapped myself after that last bit. Kitty leaned on my shoulder.

"Are we going to have a…relationship?" She batted her eyelashes. I could practically feel myself melting in her presence.

"Well…uh…if you want…I mean, I would like…and…uh…" I was tongue-tied. I couldn't get out a complete sentence. She giggled in that adorable way she has and stroked the back of my head.

"You are so cute when you do that," She purred. I took a chance then.

Our lips met halfway, synchronizing themselves perfectly, our tongues dancing across each other. I moved my hand to her knee and felt her shiver with pleasure. And the whole time, I couldn't stop myself from thinking, _This is so cool!_

"And how is everyone on this fine day?" I smiled brightly, helping myself to pancakes. Chang grumbled.

"You look like the cat that ate the canary," he growled, stealing one of my flapjacks. I couldn't help but grinning.

"Something like that…" I teased, drowning my pancakes in syrup. Scott was still mad at me, and kept shooting death glares at me from down the table. It got so bad I finally told him to quit checking me out, I didn't swing that way. Jean laughed at that before she could stop herself. Logan had taken an unusually friendly stature towards me and Chang since last night, and was asking for a blow by blow account of the fight with Sabertooth. Kurt and Rogue were conversing over something with Kitty and kept stealing glances at Chang as he speared more flapjacks, and the New Mutants were looking at Bobby with something close to hero worship.

Still, with all this going on, everyone noticed when a furry form made its way down the stairs and awkwardly sat in an empty seat at the end of the table.

Jeff Seales looked at all of us in turn, averting his eyes as soon as each made contact.

"I…I would like to say…that…I'm sorry." His voice was barely audible, yet everyone heard it. "I don't remember hurting anyone. I'm not even really sure how I got here, but I am truly sorry for any pain I've caused any of you." I grinned to myself, gingerly shifting my right arm. Turns out I had only dislocated it. I was wearing a brace to keep it from moving too much, but there was no lasting damage.

"Hey, it's ok," Jean said suddenly. "Everyone makes mistakes. The Institute's about second chances."

"She's right," Rogue added. "No matter what happens in the past, you can always start over." Jeff smiled and looked shyly out of the corner of his eye at Rogue.

"So, Ears. You got yourself a name?" Logan asked, bringing his attention away from the auburn haired goth. Jeff looked confused.

"He could be just Monkey," I put in.

"Nah, how about…Primate!" Bobby cried. I rolled my eyes.

"Nein, ze Incredible…um…actually, I can't zink of anyzing else." Kurt looked sheepish.

"How about we, like, hear what Jeff wants his name to be?" Kitty stated calmly, reaching for a banana. We all stared expectantly at our fuzzy friend, who grabbed and apple, took a bite, and thought.

"I guess…Iscariot. Yeah. Iscariot, the Betrayer." Ororo cocked an eyebrow at this unusual name choice, but Xavier nodded.

"Right. Iscariot, welcome to the Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters," the Prof voiced. "Welcome to the X-Men." 

FINISHED! That's it. The whole thing. Don't worry, a sequel's in the works. What is it? Chang, Zach, Cameron, and Jeff go back to school. Of course, they're facing a student body that knows of the existence of mutants at Xavier's, so persecution is just one of the surprises they have to look forward to.

Will Zach and Kitty take their relationship further?

Will Cameron earn the team's trust after her deceit?

What about the Brotherhood?

How will Jeff cope with the new experience of High School?

And finally, will Tabitha every buy less revealing clothing?


	7. Intermission

Well, I haven't updated in a while, and I'm sure you're all wondering why. Maybe.  
Anyway, the point is, I haven't posted On The Wrong Track because I have been otherwise occupied with school, work, and of course, the ladies.  
For the four of you who have been eagerly awaiting this second installment, fear not, for hope is not lost.  
I am looking for an author to continue my work. I have the outline of the second On the Wrong Track written up; all it needs is fleshed out. After that, however, you may have free reign over the series.  
Anybody interested? Please email me at jknoxville123@hotmail.com for more information and complete character biographies. 


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